10 THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS MONTH

July was definitely my best month of 2019 so far, and I am hoping that is going to carry through until the end of the year now. I really want to start documenting more on here, by sharing the big and small things going on in my life at that time. With this, I wanted to end the month by sharing some of my highlights of July. July was a super busy month for me, and a lot of really exciting things happened for me, and it felt like they were all happening at once. I would love to do these every month so please let me know what you think, right now, I am really just enjoying looking back at everything I have done this month. 

The first week of July, I was on work experience as part of my sixth form programme. This had been in the works for months and months but it came around super quickly. Everyone was travelling to all of these exciting places for work experience, but I ended up staying pretty local and helping out at a primary school. A lot of people would probably think that this is quite generic, which it is, but as someone who loves working with children and is considering teaching as a possible career, this was perfect for me. However, I was definitely really nervous going into it, I tend to find change a little difficult and meeting new people is something I'm working on, but immediately I was welcomed by the other staff and I really enjoyed my time there. I spent the majoirty of my time with children aged four and five, which was so interesting and lots of fun because they were all so friendly and just really engaged with one another. It definitely taught me a lot, espeically, how to get them to engage with learning about things like money and spelling. The five days I spent there really set the tone for the rest of the month and I now really value the time I spent there. 

During work experience week, on July 3rd, I went to see Here Come The Boys, which was a show with three of the male dancers from Strictly in it. My mum and I had tickets for months, right when they first came out and so I had been looking forward to it for a really long time. The show definitely did not diappoint and it was definitely one of my favourites I had ever seen. It was unlike anything I had ever watched before, it was a lot of dancing but in all sorts of different styles and layouts. The dancers were also super talkative, engaged a lot with the audience and it was just an overall, really fun night. 

July 10th was then my 17th birthday. I've never really been a massive birthday person, but this year definitely topped it as my best one yet. Not because of anything in particular, but my friends and family just made me feel so special and loved. I was definitely very anxious that morning, which I usually am on my birthday, but as the day went on, I just feel really super special. My friends and family spoilt me massively this year, especially my parents, but I am so super grateful for all of the lovely messages, cards and presents I recieved. 17 is currently looking like my best year so far!

I always knew that I wanted to drive as soon as possible, so the day after my birthday, I sat my driving theory test. I had been preparing for it months prior to my birthday as I just really didn't want to fail. As I was sitting the test, I don't think I had ever been so nervous and answering the question section, I really thought I had failed. However, I didn't, I passed and so that is my first step done to become a legal driver in the UK. 

Like I said, I have always wanted to drive as soon as I possibly could and so for my birthday, my parents did get me driving lessons. I am so super grateful for my driving lessons as I am lucky enough to be able to get my lessons quite close together in the hopes that I will pass quite quiclly. I have had 10 lessons this month, and I feel like I am finally getting to grips with it. Without giving away too much, my test is booked in a couple of months so fingers crossed all will go well. I am really enjoying it at the moment though, it is so different to me but I really love it and I am excited to finally pass, hopefully in the near future. 

This month I also started my first ever job. I have been trying to get a job now for at least 9 months, and nothing really came of the ones I had applied to. However, a local company by where I live was hiring and so I applied in June, and I had the job by the start of July. It took a little while to get it set up but I've ended up working three shifts this month and I have honestly loved it. I mainly love how many new people I have met, and I have found some amazing friends through this job already. Even though I haven't even been there a month, I do think that I have definitely learnt a lot about the world of work and about myself as well. I definitely want to do a post all about the things I've learn from my first job but that probably won't be coming for a few months until I have properly settled, but it is super exciting right now. 

In July, I definitely seeked more opportunities to see my friends and to catch up with some that I hadn't seen in a while. I am definitely not the best when it comes to sticking with plans, but I really tried this month to go out and meet up with some people that are really special to me. I guess this is a bit of a brief one, but with it being summer, I will hopefully be seeing my friends a lot more and making more memories. 

Like I said, I am now finished for my summer holidays which means that finishing year 12 had to make it on my highlights for this month. I would be lying if I said that this year was easy, it has definitely been my most challenging academic year, both academically and mentally. It definitely started off rocky but as time has gone on, I am feeling good about the future and I am excited to go into my final year of sixth form, even if that does mean sitting the most important exams of my life. 

This month, I also got back into reading. With the last few months of year 12 being very stressful, reading definitely took a backseat which was unintentionally but necessary for the short term. I also went through a bit of slump with reading, there was nothing I really wanted to read and everything I started, I just couldn't finish. Mid July though, I started to finally read some more and I am really happy with how it is going. The book series that got me back into reading has its own little post going up this week so I guess you'll have to wait to see what it is, but it has definitely gotten me excited about other books I can read over summer. 

The last thing this month that was a big highlight for me, was volunteering with animals at a local organisation near me. I don't want to say too much about it as it is really local to me and I don't want to give away that much detail right now, but it is an incredible organisation. I have always wanted to volunteer somewhere and this is an organisation that I am really passionate about. I love the work that they do and everything they have achieved. They are only small, but I think that they are making a massive difference. Like I said my volunteering does include working with animals, which I love and it one of the main reasons why this place is right up my street. It is definitely very intense and I have found out a lot about myself while doing this, but it is so rewarding and lots of fun. I haven't actually been there a lot this month, I am still getting introduced to it all, but so far, I do really enjoy it when I'm there. 

Let me know in the comments what you're highlights from this month were, I'd love to know!

Grace xx