Final Year and Christmas

Photo: @nessaree_

Hey! It's been a hot minute since I've written a post. I am in my final year at uni!! *throws confetti* In fact, I am just about finishing my first semester of my final year, the time has passed so quickly. This has been hands down the most difficult semester for me; I thought last year was difficult but man was I not ready for this semester. By God's grace, I have made it this far and I will make it through to next semester. I have decided to take a step back from all the hall activities and have decided to focus more on my studies, ya homegirl is not spending any more time in this place than she needs to haha.

I have already completed some of my exams and I have many more to do but nothing can contain my excitement for the Christmas season! That means 1. I'll be going home soon and 2. There's no school to worry about! I mean, who is going to complain about that right? I feel like I'll start packing my bags now so that will not be an issue when it is time to leave- I'll  just grab the bags and go.

As it is finals season, I'd like to wish all students the very best in their exams. Study hard, concentrate, apply your knowledge, read your questions carefully, structure your responses well and most importantly, remain calm and pray. Once you do the necessary work, all will be well.

Photo: @toni_knicole 

Life Update

Hiiiiiii I'm back! I haven't made a post in AGES, very bad, I know. You know when people just get consumed by their lives and forget the things they once loved to do? Yeah, that's me. SO I've been reading some of my favourite blogs and I decided that I'd come back here and try to do an update, even though it may not interest anybody, I'll do it for the laughs I can have later on.

. This picture was taken at my Block's cocktail party

Did I forget to tell you that I lost a few pounds? Yeah I did lol
Sooooo....where shall I begin?
I have completed my second year of university YAY! One more year to go and I am out of that place and I'll be in the working world. That's actually quite scary to be honest. Going out into the unknown, not knowing if you'll be getting a job, not knowing if you'll enjoy the job you will have and a lot more. But I'll make it, I know I will with my prayers and the prayers of my family and friends.

I also got a jump start on the summer holidays WOOHOO! My exams ended early this semester and boy was I the happiest girl on campus after always being one of the last persons to complete exams at any given time, LITERALLY.  I have not done anything really exciting yet, but it's just nice to stay home and relax with family and catch up with my grandparents and other relatives.

Also, my church is doing this Bible teaching series this week and to day is the last day *cue the tears* it has been so exciting and eye-opening and it has encouraged me to read my Bible a whole lot more. My sister and I even did a debate! That was definitely very fun finding arguments and counter arguments, asking our parents if they thought certain points were strong enough to use in the debate. The moot was "The Bible is dull, old and boring". Needless to say you can see why I found it so intriguing.

That's my update for now loves, I dont have much more to tell you. Enjoy your summer break and be safe! xx

Love,
Toni

Living on a Hall of Residence

Hey! As you would have known if you read my previous posts, I am a university student. Seeing that I live approximately two hours away from the campus, I live on a hall as it would obviously be hectic for me to travel to school everyday considering traffic and the works. 

I have heard many people say they would "...never live on hall because..." and they list 100000 reasons to not live on hall but at my university, if you do not live on hall, you do not get the entire university experience. I can definitely give you a few reasons to choose to live on hall when considering housing options.

1. There are seniors to help you through your first year t university. They will give you advice on the do's and dont's of university life AND if you ever need help with your assignments they are always willing to help (as long as you don't cut into their time to do their assignments).

2. You have other first years living on hall who do the same course as you do so you have a ready made study group. Cool huh? You can share notes and discuss lectures without having to go very far to study with commuters #goodgrades #goodbrain

3. If you ever find that you are hungry and don't have something to eat, you can go to your neighbour and ask them if they have a snack that they're willing to share. I am positive the answer will be yes because everybody knows about the struggle. It is very real.

4. Pooling cooking resources is also very helpful when you are running low on food. Just get a couple friends throw in a couple ingredients each and you will be surprised at the feast you will get once you all pitch in. 

5. You don't have to travel to get to school and you don't have to worry about transportation to get to and from school. You LIVE at school. YAY!

6. Hall competitions are the BEST and they're always fun. You get to enjoy all of this while commuters have to go home, Yaaas :D 

7. Interpersonal skills are developed once you live on hall. You have at least 150 other people around you every day and you have to learn how to communicate with them.

8. You learn to share, whether it is food, notes, advice or just little knick knacks.

9. You learn to be independent of your parents. You have to wash, cook and clean for yourself because you do not have Mommy and Daddy to help you #adulthood 

10. You will make lifelong friendships while living on hall with people from all over the region, even the world while living on hall. There are many opportunities for cultural exchange whether it is through food, dance, music or personal experiences. It is an enriching experience.

I would advise anyone who is considering living on a hall of residence to do it. There are many more reasons to do this, but these are just a few to spark your interest. Trust me, you will love it! 

Love, 

Toni

20 Facts About Me

I'm back with a new post! Today I'll be telling you 20 facts about myself ^_^ here goes...

1. I am Jamaican
2. I love to sing
3. My favourite cake is cheesecake
4. I am a Christian
5. I love make up, fashion and all those girly things
6. I get annoyed very easily
7. I am quite caring (most of the time)
8. I LOVE my family so much
9. I love foreign languages
10. My dream is to travel to France one day
11. I am shy
12. I am a hard working student
13. I love electronics
14. I love to read
15. I love to bake (yes, I live up to my name)
16. I do not comb hair very well
17. I am an honest person (sometimes too honest)
18. I don't like exercise
19. I'm not the biggest fan of sports
20. I love FOOD (I mean, who doesn't right?)

These are just a few things about me that I thought I would share with you. Thank you for reading :D ^_^

Love,
Toni <3

I've Finished the First Semester of my First Year in University!

So the first semester of my first year of university is over! Yay!

Don't mind the face in the picture lol it's the only one I could find where I was actually in the air :D

Anyway, this past semester was pretty good, although there were a few rough patches for me. Firstly, at my university when you live on a hall of residence there is a tradition of going through orientation and being inducted onto the hall. That was a pretty hectic but fun experience for me but not for some of my friends who live on other halls :/ that went on for a week and a half, then came school.

I am a Spanish and French major (DOUBLE MAJOR EEEEP!) and so my courses are quite demanding and require me to be using the languages EVERY DAY, but I enjoy it. The lecturers are great and I find the conversation classes to be the best because you just talk. You talk about the topics covered in the lectures and students sometimes even start talking about topics they want to and the classes are just laid back and interesting. 

In addition to the school work, there re inter-hall competitions, this semester was mainly sports and so I had to wake up at 5am at times or leave the hall at 7pm to go and support my fellow hall mates at these games. I know absolutely nothing about sports so I just sat on the bleachers cheering my heart out lol and it worked because we won a couple games! 

As the semester began to come to an end, my hall mates and I began to prepare for our annual hall dinner and so everyone was getting themselves in a tizzy trying to find dresses and shoes; bags and jewellery; make up and hairstyles that they thought would suit them the best and we all went out and had a great time.

Red Carpet 

Did I mention I met some AWESOME people this semester?

After all of the festivities it was then time to settle down and prepare for exams which for me weren't all that bad...I don't think. I hope the results reflect the same thing hahaha *inserts anxious emoji here* 

THEN it was time to pack and go HOME! That was pretty exciting for me as I had packed a week before my exams had actually finished and before my parents were due to come and pick me and my sister up. Yes, I was that ready to go home. 

But all in all, it was a good semester and I hope that next semester will be even better although I've heard it will be much harder and the first one was just a little breather before the real work began. Yikes! Well, time will tell right?

So I'll end this blog post here and insert a few pictures for you to see what I'd been up to during the semester, if I can find any. 

Manager's Reception for all First Years on my Hall

I was being serenaded at the dinner

That's all I can find for now :/ sorry

Thanks Joel for taking the picture :D #TGIFPhotography 

Thank you for reading! 

Love, Toni

Favourite Drugstore Lip Products of March

Hey there! Today I am going to tell you about my favourite lip products for the past month. Lippies are my favourite make up product. Even if I don't wear foundation, concealer,eye shadow, eye liner or mascara I HAVE to wear a lip product. It may be lip balm, lipstick ^_^ or lip gloss :D

I have been loving this Blistex Nurture & Nourish lip balm that I got at Fontana Pharmacy  (You can shop on line here ---> http://fontanapharmacy.com/ )

 This lip balm has Olive Oil and Grapeseed Oil so you can just imagine how moisturizing it is. According to the packaging it also feeds lips with nutrients, antioxidants and essential minerals. To top it all off it smells DELICIOUS! Every time I smell it, I am reminded of Starburst and Skittles :D

The next set of products are lip glosses/paints, lip liners and a lip stick.These are just gorgeous and I have received many compliments on them.

LA Girl Glazed Lip Paint (L-R) Blushing and Tempt, City Color Be Matte Lipstick in Lola Nyx Lip Liners (from top to bottom) Mahagony and Mauve

Lola

From top to bottom (L-R) Lola, Mauve, Mahagony, Tempt, Blushing

I have had the City Colour Lipsticks for a couple months now. Actually, I went out and bought it after seeing Natalia Oh (check out her blog http://www.nataliaoh.com/ ) post about it. I instantly fell in love. It is such a pretty red! Again these photos were taken with a phone and I took them when the sun was gone (which probably wasn't very wise). Oh one tip before I leave, Please ensure that you moisturize your lips before applying a lip liner as they have a matte finish and if your lips are dry and flaky it will show.

Leave a comment and tell me your favourite lip products, whether they are drugstore or high end, I would love to know. Have a GREAT day! Thanks for reading! :D

Toni-Ann

xxx

Nail Polish Addiction, Mid-Term and More

Hey guys! I have been MIA lately mostly because of the truckload of assignments that I have to do, I mean this is just unfair to expect one child to do...smh, but as Jamaican say, "If yuh want good yuh nose haffi run" so I'll just stick it out.

Anyway, I have recently come to the conclusion that I seriously have a nail polish addiction. Whenever I see a new colour that I like and don't have, I just HAVE to buy it. My Mom recently 'banned' me from buying any more because she says I already have enough, but come on, one can never have too many bottles of nail polish. Psshhh! LOL I can't wait for the break so that I can try out the new colours...Eeep!
Speaking of break, we're going to have out Mid-Term break next week!! Halla! 3 days away from school? YES PLEASE! I just hope my teachers don't call us in for classes because jah know I don't think I'd go I'm sooo tired.

Youth Rally is around the corner and it's only a couple days before I see my camp friends again! #soexcited
This weather here in JA though. I mean I am positive that it's going to snow here soon. LOL j/k but it's sooo cold. This weather calls for a good book and some hot chocolate in bed. NO SCHOOL Hehehe :D

Anyway this post was just a little 'catch up session' since I've been away for so long. Enjoy your day loves!

Love, 

Toni xxx