An Honest Day In My Life: Quarantine Uni Student Edition

An Honest Day In My Life: Quarantine Uni Student Edition

What a funny old time we're living in! I'm still adjusting to the whole situation with my final year of university finishing so abruptly and packing up my house 2 months early and moving back home! It's something that we never could have predicted happening and being at home it's so important to find a routine that works for you that allows you to be productive but at the same time not to fully neglect your mental health and your hobbies. So this is what I've found myself doing and so far, I think it's working pretty well for me!

mid-week musings (mid-pandemic musings)

mid-week musings (mid-pandemic musings)

Well, this has been an eventful few weeks. I've just finished university classes 6 weeks early, meaning that I'll not get to see the year out with my friends who have been by my side since day one almost four years ago! All exams have been cancelled and replaced with coursework, our formal, which was going to be our last hoorah has been cancelled and graduation has likely been postponed. And to top it all off, they've cancelled Eurovision, the main source of joy in my life while my world was tumbling down around me. 

So how can I possibly still find joy in these strange and difficult times? Yes, it majorly sucks that everything is ending so abruptly and we're not getting the 2020 that we hoped and planned for but this pandemic didn't take God by surprise! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! 

One of my favourite songs, Still God by Elevation Worship declares 

Before the world began

It wasn't spoken yet

You were still God

And You are still God

After Your final breath

It wasn't over yet

You were still God

And You are still God

He is still God in the midst of our troubles, He is still God in the midst of our fear, He is still God in the midst of our disappointment, He is still God in the midst of our loneliness, He is still God in the midst of our uncertainty. He is STILL God. The same God that saw us through our other low points will certainly see us through this one, so that's why I'm clinging tightly on to hope.

5 Eurovision 2020 Songs That You Need To Hear Immediately

5 Eurovision 2020 Songs That You Need To Hear Immediately

UPDATE: After the cancellation of the Eurovision Song contest 2020 due to the ongoing Covid-19 Outbreak this list seems a bit redundant now but I still stand by all of my previous points of Eurovision being a great way to discover new music so even if we don't have a contest this year we still got 41 new songs and artists to discover!

It's that time again where I try and convince everyone that Eurovision is, in fact, a credible source of music so here are 5 songs from this year's contest that I think you just HAVE to hear! These aren't necessarily my favourite songs but the ones that I think have the most universal appeal for non-fans to get into the contest.

My Favourite Books of All Time

My Favourite Books of All Time

It's World Book Day today so in order to honour it, I thought I'd just share some of my favourite books of all time!

The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller
I used to read all the time as a child but then once I hit my teens I just kind of stopped and then I picked up this book and it reminded me about why I love to read. The language is so so beautiful and I literally couldn't put it down and I thought about it for weeks after. Circe by Madeleine Miller is also an amazing book, I just preferred The Song of Achilles a little more.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
I've always loved the Harry Potter series and always will no matter how basic that might be and the Prisoner of Azkaban is just the best one and that's all I have to say on this matter.

Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
OH BOY. Now when I say that I love this book, I mean that I LOVE this book. It truly is the happiest thing I've ever read and I still try to read it once a year just to get those happy juices flowing. Becky Albertalli is one of my favourite authors and literally everything she writes is my favourite thing ever but no other novel holds quite as much space in my heart as Simon vs.

What is your favourite book that you've ever read because I'm always looking for new book recommendations?

february faves

february faves

The alliteration of February Faves was too strong for me to ignore and the last time I did a favourites post was in September so I figured now was a good time for me to update you all on the things I'm loving this month (and the past few months as well)

WHAT I'M WATCHING

I recently watched a German rom-com on Netflix called Isi and Ossi and I loved it so much! It was kinda cheesy and predictable but it was honestly just really heartwarming and lovely and I highly recommend it to everyone. I'm fairly partial to European media so I may have loved this more than the average person but it's still 5 out of 5! I've been on a down season of tv shows but Elite season three comes out next month so I'm super excited for that!

WHAT I'M READING

I finally picked up the new Becky Albertalli book 'Yes, No, Maybe So'. Simon Vs The Homosapiens Agenda is one of my favourite books of all time and I love everything that Becky comes out with and this one is no different. 

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO

It's officially Eurovision season which means that my music taste morphs into europop for the next few months and honestly I'm not mad about it! I was going to put Francesco Gabbani's Viceversa but the UK just released their song and for once it's genuinely a BOP and I'm so excited! Give it a listen!

WHAT I'M WEARING

I finally picked up Armani's Si perfume after wanting and ogling it for years and lemme just say it is DIVINE and I want to smell of nothing else for the rest of my life.

RANDOM PICK
My random pick is the smarties chocolate share bar because OH BOOOOOY. Heart eyes emojis all round. I used to eat these all the time but everywhere near me has stopped selling them (probably because of the high sugar content) but I was complaining about how they didn't sell them anymore and my friend told me that in fact, they did so she bought me some from her local shop and it really just made my week (so maybe my random pick is actually just friendship??)

What things have you been loving this month?

the one with the mom jeans

the one with the mom jeans

*THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS* 

Judging by the title of this blog (MOM JEANS AND JESUS) you probably figured that I love mom jeans and my absolute favourite pair are the mid-blue Kimomo jeans from Monki and have been for years. 

I got an email today letting me know that currently, ALL MONKI JEANS ARE 20% OFF!!!! So I simply had to come on and share this with y'all because if you're on the lookout for some new jeans, Monki is DEFFO the way to go. I also have the Taiki jeans in Black which I also love. 

Here's a selection of some of my favourite mom style jeans from Monki to inspire you! The Kimomo jeans have straighter and skinnier leg while the Taiki jeans are more traditionally mom jean like with a wider leg and both are GREAT and come in multiple colours!

What I Spend in a Week At University

What I Spend in a Week At University

A big part of going away for uni is learning how to budget and manage your money. Northern Ireland is a pretty affordable place to live and I try to be as minimalist as possible. I'm still learning how to budget better so a big part of this post is actually just for me to see how well I'm managing my expenses as much as me sharing with you all what I buy in a week.


Monday

My pressed powder just died a slow painful death so I very glamorously began my Monday by popping to Tesco to buy a new one. - £4.00

I then got a train from Belfast to Coleraine. This is a bizarre thing that we do in Northern Ireland where we all go home for the weekends, call us home birds. The train price has also been increased this year so it's actually become something that I actively notice this year as opposed to previous years when I'd just pay it and think nothing of it - £8.30

Once I arrive at Coleraine I then get a bus to Portstewart, the next town over, which is where my house is. - £1.60

As it's the start of the week I also did a grocery shop to stock up on fresh produce for the week and to fill my store cupboard as it's the beginning of a new term. - £28.89

Monday Total Spend = £42.79


Tuesday

I don't have class on Tuesdays so I literally had no expenses today because I was at home all day doing laundry. Yay for chores and yay for no expenses

Tuesday Total Spend = £0.00


Wednesday

Grabbed a lift to uni and picked up a banana as an after-class snack. I've been feeling nauseous a lot recently so I'm limiting myself to the blandest foods possible to try and alleviate it a little, hence the banana - £0.35

I then went to the library and treated myself to a Wispa gold with my lunch afterwards because it's a bad habit and I'm not at all ashamed - £0.77

I ended up not getting the bus at all today because my friends all so kindly gave me lifts to everywhere I needed to be so I managed to avoid that expense which is usually a staple in my daily expenditure.

Wednesday Total Spend = £1.02


Thursday

Hopped on the bus around 12 to head into uni for the day - £1.40

I made lunch before I left the house so I didn't need to buy anything in uni. I was originally planning on picking up some chocolate from the shop on my way home but by the time I ended up leaving the library, the shop was closed so I guess that was a blessing in disguise! My friend also very kindly gave me a lift home so I didn't need to pay for another bus fare.

Thursday Total Spend = £1.40


Friday 

I got the bus again this morning and you know the gist by now - £1.40

I had a really long lecture so I treated myself to a lil bag of Minstrels during the break... oops - £0.77

I also managed to run out of lunch food (oops) so I had to grab a wrap from the shop to eat on my way home - £2.99

Remember when I mentioned that we all go home at the weekend? yeah, guess what? Another train fare!! - £8.30

Friday Total Spend = £13.46


Saturday

I ended up not going out on Saturday and ended up just staying in and watched some Netflix and some rugby which meant I also didn't spend any money. 

However, as it's the 1st of the month it's the day that I pay my rent. I'm not going to disclose the exact amount that I pay for rent so I'm excluding the value from my expenses.

Saturday Total Spend = £0.00 (+rent)


Sunday

I got a hotdog for breakfast at church this morning (which I generally do most Sunday morning's because it's there and it's handy - £1.00

Bad habits die hard and we have a habit of always going to get ice cream after church in the evenings and this week was no different. - £4.50

Sunday Total Spend = £5.50

So that brings us to the end of the week and that brings my weekly spend to the grand total of (drum roll please)

Weekly Total = £64.17 (+rent)

This was a reasonably normal week but my expenses change week by week so if you enjoyed this post and would like to see another one in the future let me know and I'll maybe do a part two.

what jesus has been teaching me lately

what jesus has been teaching me lately

Long-time no faith post. I've taken an unplanned hiatus from posting on social media which as someone who's livelihood is online seemed like a weird thing to do and something that I never actually ever envisioned myself doing. I've never really viewed my social media usage as toxic or a distraction but having a week out of pressurising myself to keep posting content that I thought other people would enjoy was actually very enjoyable and the world didn't implode. SHOCKED FACE! I say unintentionally because during this time I was desperately scouring my hard drive for pictures I could post that I hadn't yet but then I caught a grip of myself, slowed down and thought 'Why am I really doing this?'. 

Authenticity is key! And me posting a photo from summer when in reality I'm stuck in my house revising for exams does not scream authenticity to me! So many times you can get so caught up in busyness but most of the time, it's not even busyness it's actually laziness and procrastination that masked in the noisiness and brashness of social media. 

Getting away from the hustle and bustle of keeping up with my Instagram feed meant I was really pressing into Jesus this past week and here are a few things that He's really put on my heart.

Trust in His plan
I'm doing a year-long devotional this year, specifically Women of the Bible, and we're only 3 weeks in but it's already hitting me with some hard truths! Week 2 was focused on the story of Sarah and how when she tried to take God's promise for her into her own hands it ended in disaster. She was barren and was promised a Son so sent her husband to sleep with her servant to act as a surrogate. It was a plan, it worked, but it wasn't God's plan for her. Sarah grew jealous of Hagar and ultimately sent her away along with her son. But God intervened, He didn't give up on Sarah and fulfilled that promise to her. He brought her Jacob, which means laughter. When she took the plans into her own hands, it ended with pain but when she handed it over to God she was rewarded with laughter! How often do we take God's plans into our own hands and get rewarded with failure! 

Reading this reminded me (super randomly might I add) of one of my favourite songs, Los Dias Raros by Vetusta Morla. The last line of the song is 'It begins with cellophane and ends with an echo'. So many times our testimonies can begin by us being blessed with a gift, God working in our lives and if we take that gift and use it, we'll echo God's love for us all around us. 

Contagious
While I was on my hiatus I was also watching A LOT of Queer Eye and every time I watch an episode of Queer Eye I'm struck by how evident the gospel is. It might seem weird that a show about 5 gay men making over (or making better) someone from the deep south of America could be considered the gospel because it's such a far cry from what we expect the gospel to be. We're familiar with the gospel, it makes sense to us but for the religious rulers and the people of Jerusalem at the time that Jesus was telling parables it was not. We've grown so accustomed to the teachings of the Bible that God's grace doesn't shock us anymore, we don't always see the miraculous things that He's doing in front of our very eyes!

"Forgiveness is  something that's contagious, Freedom is something that's contagious"- Karamo Brown

We are forgiven so that we can forgive and we are free in order to free others. Our pictures of what we think a Christian should look like can sometimes taint us from doing our job in evangelising. If the boys from Queer Eye can make someone loveable, think about how much the love of Jesus could impact someone's life!

Back to our First Love
So often we can completely miss the point of Christianity. It becomes more and more about going through the motions, striving for growth, striving to see breakthrough that we can forget that the foundation of all of it needs to be Jesus. Our first love isn't the first thing we loved, it's the thing that we love first, before anything else. Jesus should be our first love. Everything else we do should flow from that place of loving Jesus above all else and that's when we'll start to see the blessings flow. Start 2020 (albeit it a little late) on the right foot, with Jesus at the centre.

Resolutions...

Resolutions...

I've never really been one for new years resolutions, realistically if I'm not doing something now, deciding to do it in January isn't REALLY going to change my mind. I made resolutions last year and just didn't stick to them at all so I was apprehensive about doing the same thing this year. I thought for this post I'd go through last years resolutions and decide how well I fulfilled them and come up with a good list for 2020 by building on 2019s goals and putting it in a blog post and posting it on the internet keeps me accountable!

SHOP THE LOOK | Jeans: Mid Blue Kimomo (x) / Shoes: Puma Basket (x) / Backpack: Madlug (x)

Grow Online Following
I didn't grow my following that much this year but I've created a following that engages and enjoys what I have to post so I count that as a WIN! Obviously, the goal is still to grow my following more but having people actively engage and enjoy your content is all that creators want!

Will I stick with this goal in 2020?: Yes!!


Spend Time curating good online content
I think I did this one well, with Instagram so increasingly becoming a cause of stress and anxiety I wanted to be mindful about the content I was creating and not just sticking something up on Instagram for the sake of it, being open and honest online, say when I was struggling and not just post the highlights reel. 

Will I stick to this goal in 2020?: Yes


Read at least one book a month
This one I FAILED in all caps! It's funny because it's actually something I did with no problem in 2018, 2019 was just a really poor reading year for me and I'm planning on righting all of my reading wrongs this coming year!!

Will I stick to this goal in 2020?: Yes (and hopefully I'll actually do it this time)

Launch photography business
I did and I didn't, I put myself out there and got some paid gigs but I haven't officially launched anything yet... will this be the year I finally do it? Probably not because final year of uni is KICKING MY ASS but you never know what the new decade will bring!

Will I stick to this goal in 2020?: No, but I'm not ruling anything out!


Read entire Bible
Another one that fell flat on its face! I started out with the best of intentions I joined a bible reading group on Bible app but I inevitably got kicked out due in inactivity...oops. This is still something I want to do but I, unfortunately, don't think that 2020is the year for this either.

Will I stick to this goal in 2020?: No, but I bought a new year-long devotional so that is a new challenge for this coming year for me to stick to

Be more organised
I think I actually managed this one, I don't have anything to show for it, I bought a planner and didn't use it but I'm definitely more on top of my work so I guess I'd say I'm more organised than I was last year... maybe.

Will I stick to this goal in 2020?: This is a goal I'll have to stick to for the rest of my life because I am the princess of procrastination.



Some extra goals for 2020:

• Eat less meat
• Manage my money better
• Pick up a language again

Do you make resolutions? If so what are your resolutions for 2020? Maybe it'll inspire me to try something new!