NEW BLOG

Hi People,
I've moved my blog -
the address is now

papercraneanni.wordpress.com

see you there ( click HERE to go directly there )

PAPER TOWNS - A Recommendation / REVIEW

Hi ...

So I don't know where you have been, probably under a rock, if you haven't read this book (the rock thing is a lame excuse because you can actually read under a rock, I'm sure).

PAPER TOWNS is a beautiful expression of the human character, and emotions a person goes through. It makes ordinary things seem magical, and it inspires you to not just hide under a rock and live your life, it makes you want to get out there and explore the world in your own way. I feel like this books makes me want to do daring things, and not care or worry about what others think about it, similar to how I felt when I cut my hair (CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT IT ) .

This is hard, because I really don't want to give out any spoilers, but I feel like Q is us, or we can relate to him. We all imagine these people to be so spectacular and different, and we see ourselves as boring and lame. Q learns that that is not entirely true. That has to be one of my favourite lessons from the book.

I'm sure others will take other things from this book, and I'm keen to read more about what you, or other blog poster people have to say, so if you know anyone who has written a review let me know so I can check it out.

PAPER TOWNS was really an enjoyable book to read and better than The Fault in our Stars (in my opinion), so please stimulate your brain, and read it.

Have a lovely day you lovely person,
xxx
Andrea xxxxx

P.S.
May the Fourth be with you until next year ;)

The Aussie Philosophy

There is more to life than hair, but it's a good place to start - The Aussie Philosophy 

So I used to have like really long hair (I mean really really long hair). Everytime I went to that hair dresser for a trim (the hairdressers were always bitterly disappointed when I wouldn't let them do anything but trim and style my hair...) the hairdressers would always ask me how I kept my hair so healthy. Despite having just under 50cm in length of hair, I had minimal heat damage, and practically no split ends. They would inspect my hair looking for damage and split ends, but alas they found next to nothing of the sort. 

My secret...

The AUSSIE Shampoo and Conditioner range. 

 (now I sound like one of those woman from a LÓreal ad ...) Dun dun dunnnn

The two products I use are the Aussie Frizz Miracle Shampoo and 3 Minute Miracle Fizz Remedy Deep Treatment.

It does what is says it does on the bottle. And is smells like a dream.

I swear this stuff does magic to my hair, leaving it looking like I've spent hours on my hair styling it, when in fact all I did was wash and brush it.

After cutting my hair shorter I was so nervous that my hair would go all puffy and frizzy, but thanks to the Aussie shampoo range, I don't have any. Click HERE to go to a post of mine where you can see how great my hair looks ( and all I did was wash and brush it and let it dry).

I really recommend this product to anyone who is looking for frizz remedy. It works, like seriously well.

Click HERE to go to the website and check out the range of Frizz Remedy.

To be honest, I really didn't like the conditioner, it didn't do great things to my hair, but the 3 Minute Miracle makes up for it. 

My 300ml shampoo and 250ml Deep Treatment lasts me about 4 months because you don't need to use a huge amount on your hair. 

I am desperate to try some more of their products, especially their dry shampoo. 

Please, next time your shampoo runs out, invest in this great product and give it a go. You'll love it I promise. If you're keen to try it, I'm sure they give out mini free samples, or you can buy the mini sachets for one wash.

(Oh and a tip for while you're waiting the 3 minutes during the Deep Treatment, do yourself a favour and read the front and back of the bottle, you won't be disappointed. Its Sassy and Chilled, you'll see what I mean)

Hope you liked this post and found it useful. Leave a comment below if you use, or want to start using any of the Aussie range.

Have a great day,

xxx

Andrea

#ChannellingMyInnerKyra

Hi to the Loveliest of Lovelies.

So despite this post being a kinda shout-out/gushing over my great friend, I actually want what I'm talking about to turn into a thing.
This post is going to start with a #HASHTAG and end with a #HASHTAG and that very special #HASHTAG is -

#channellingmyinnerkyra   (CHANNELLING MY INNER KYRA for those of you, who like me, might struggle to read hashtags)...

Here is the 411/the LOW down,
My friend Kyra is warm (she's a mammal so to be warm is expected of her) but she's more than that. She's friendly, but friendly in a way that isn't fake, she's genuinely concerned for others, and actually wants to hear about your day. She listens to her friends complain endlessly about how tiresome, or complicated their lives are, and she's always there to offer solid and wholesome advice that works. She's bubbly and giggly, but not annoying (yes we're all thinking of that one person who giggles too much and you wanna duck-tape their mouth shut the second it opens, well she's not like that). She's also an incredibly hard worker, she sits down and gets stuff done. Kyra is confident. Even if she doesn't feel it, she walks into a room with a purpose and strides in unconsciously demanding respect, and the feeling is mutual. I've never seen her treat someone without the equal respect that all people deserve.

So now you're thinking,  wow this Kyra is perfect (and Kyra reading this's head has just grown so big her parents are going to have to make their door wider just for her to fit into the house from no on). But here is the secret truth, she's actually not. She has her faults, and her own problems, she gets jealous, and angry (her siblings are usually the main cause for that, I'm sure you can relate ;) I sure can). These are all normal and human faults, but she usually handles them a bit differently to most of us. She accepts them. Yes, she's honest about it. She doesn't pretend like everything is hunky dory when it's not. She accepts her faults, her weaknesses as a part of who she is, and rolls with it. She turns her weaknesses into strengths. And that is one of my favourite parts about her. I feel like we could all learn from her cheeky confidence, and become better people.

Here is my THEORY on the matter,
If we all tried to use/channel the awesomeness that is my friend Kyra, and used these great and wonderful aspects of her that I've mentioned, we would definitely benefit.
So I want to start a HASHTAG , and you've guessed it - #channellingmyinnerkyra

Here is what to DO ABOUT IT,
Everytime you do something wickedly awesome, or out of your comfort zone and you realised you turned out better for it, then I want you to use the HASHTAG #channellingmyinnerkyra.
Everytime you were confident even though you didn't feel confident (its called FAKING IT TILL YOU MAKE IT), then use the HASHTAG #channellingmyinnerkyra.

Me Channelling my Inner Kyra cause she loves tea ;)
and normally I wouldn't post a picture like this even though its fun

So that is my theory ---
and even if this doesn't catch on, or work, I hope it helped. I hope it helped you to feel like you can be awesome even if you don't feel like it, you can push through on a hard day, and even Kyra, if you were just reminded of how awesome you are, then I'm happy.

I hope your day is fantastic, and that you try to ...
#channelyourinnerkyra

(the actual hashtag is actually #channellingmyinnerkyra, I just used that other one for dramatic effect)

The Almost Autumn Afternoon

Hi Lovely and Stunning Person reading this :)

Yesterday, the weather was perfect, the were a few light, fluffy, white clouds in the sky, and my dad decided to treat my family and I to milkshakes on a really cool wine farm about 15kms away from where we live. The farms name is Dornier, and during WW11, the guy who owns the place now's grandfather used to build aeroplanes. One of his aircrafts was called 'Do 217', nicknamed 'the Flying Pencil', and it was used to defend Germany at one point during the war.

The setting was incredible, and I can't actually describe it using words, because if I tried, I wouldn't be doing it justice. Thank goodness I took a million pictures (no more like 50), so I'll just post those instead.

Hey Andrea Claire?! wait! what?

Hi guys, and girls (although I'm assuming that you reading this are a girl, cause you know, guys don't seem to be big into reading blogs and all that)

Anyway, you might have noticed that my blog name has gone from Papercraneanni to HeyAndreaClaire :)
There is no significant reason for this change other than I felt like something different, and HeyAndreaClaire has a nice ring to it?! Don't know if you agree at all? yes? no? well yeah, I might go back to the original... you never know :)

Yeah so this was my quick update, I hope to have time over the weekend to post something more substantial, so look out for that ;)

Have a fabulous evening, morning, day ... whenever you are reading this.
xxx
AndreaClaire

Two Years Apart | Update

Hello,

Check out Two Years Apart's new cover on Youtube...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F45BbkAlPQM (copy paste this into your browser)

Enjoy
XAndrea Claire

p.s. I'm actually in Two Years Apart (hehehe)

That guilty sorta feeling

Hello you wonderfully blessed person reading this,

I don't know about you, but sometimes I look around at my life, and see all I have.
I've had a pretty awesome education,  I have a comfortable bed to sleep in, I am a first year university student who is studying what I want. The list could probably go on for years, with all the 'stuff' and opportunities I have been given.

Then, instead of feeling an  immense joy, I feel guilt. Guilty that I've been given, freely, all these things. I don't deserve it, I think to myself. Why am I blessed enough to be given these chances to do things, so many other people don't have!?

These thoughts rattle around in my brain and I end up not appreciating what I have because I feel too guilty to.

That feeling has been crushing me a bit lately,  and I want to tell you how I get out of that rut.

My thoughts are, yes, I am blessed. Really, I want for nothing. I have gifts, talents,  opportunities and much more. These are things I have been given to me, now I need to use these gifts, and opportunities to give back. I need to use them in a constructive way that will ultimately end up helping someone else at some point.

This means, I try not to waste my time, and full my day with learning, studying,  and good use of the hours I've been given.  I need to take advantage and fully appreciate the life I have been given. I need to not take for granted the diverse deck of cards I've been delt.
Then I feel like I'm not wasting my gifts or opportunities.

I don't know if anyone else ever feels like this, but for me, if I have a appreciative attitude towards my life, I become a happier person.

X Andrea Claire

Bloom

Hello You Beautiful Person,

I hope this stunning music to this video inspires you to do something creative and special.

Enjoy and if you watch it, thank you so much

xxx
Andrea Claire

Just a Thought...

Hello there Lovely peoples,

I just want to write, like super quickly, about a thought that came to me.

Its based on a scripture in the bible, forgive me as I cannot for the life of me remember which book or verse is belongs to, but it goes like this:

FOR ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN.

Basically what it is trying to say is, you should live your life for Jesus, and if you were to die, which *spoiler alert* you are, then your death would be a gain because you died believing the God is the Creator of all, and Jesus died to save us.
And please don't misunderstand me, I totally 100% believe this, but I feel like sometimes, we read this wrong.

We need to live for something. We need to have a purpose in life, other wise our lives, our opportunity to live, would be worthless. We need to ask God for forgiveness,  and ask Jesus into our hearts,  but it can't end there. You've made the first step, now take another. Pray, fimd out where you can help, be useful, and (I hate to go all Nike on you but) do it!

Don't think it end there. Don't think your job is over because you're now a Christian,  you've been saved, nows the time to live like Christ. To try copy Christ's actions, and follow His word, His truth.

Remember though that there is no ladder to climb up into Heaven. But you can't just sit around living the life you lead before. You need to go out there, spread the Word of God (no bible bashing please). Whats important to keep in mind though is that these 'good works' aren't going to move you up on the metaphorical ladder into Heaven. You can't think, ohh help an old lady across the street, ding ding, up you go, resd your bible, ding ding, up again. We are sinners, we sin, we lie, we cheat, we kill, we speak hate, we get jealous,  so thank goodness God's love for is isn't defined by how far up this 'ladder' we are. Imagine if His love was measured like that. We might spend our whole life trying to win His love, by climbing, up, up... it would never work. Because for every good deed we do, I garentee we do x10 fold bad. Think a bad though, plop plop, down the ladder, read your bible, ping ping, up again, disrespectful to your mom, plop plop, down you go... do you see the pattern?

As Christians, we try to live lives that would please God, we try to follow His word, but we are human. We make mistakes, but if we as for His forgiveness,  His gives it. He wipes the slate clean, every day, over and over. He even sent His one and only Son to carry your sins. Do you know why? Because He loves you so deeply.

So, I believe that we should live for Christ, not only believing, but acting on that faith, and share and teach and help others. Not because its going to earn us 'brownie points' in Heaven, but because we want to live like Christ did and tell others of what He has done and is doing.

To LIVE IS CHRIST, AND TO DIE IS GAIN...

XAnni

On a more 'Serious' note

So on Tuesday I went to watch a brilliant movie with my friend Christen (hi Christen, I know you're reading this... cause I'm psychic... actually its because I've sent you a link to it... I'm not psychic) interesting and irrelevant side note sbout my awesome friend Christen. We met about two years ago at a film class and we had to story board a short film for the next week so we exchanged numbers (like one would do with any potential friend) so she could call me that night to brainstorm. She called me and our conversation went something like this,

*le phone rings* (I contemplate not answering cause me and speaking on the phone is not a good combination)
*finally, I answer*
Me: Hi, Christine ....
Christen (yes Christen not Christine): .......
Me : uh, hello..... Christine are you there....?
Christen: uh hey, Andrea (yeah she remembered my name), my names actually Christen, but ih yeah...
Me:.......
Christen :........

See I told you me + phone = bad idea. Anyway we got past me forgetting her name, and yeah she's pretty awesome. She's also going to be a famous film director one day, so watch out world... you have been warned.

Sorry Christen, I'm going to stop talking about you, you can't take up a whole blog post of mine, what are my other friends going to think? (p.s Christen, invite me over soon, I need to meet your 'Delivery Boy kitten' ;)

Where was I? Oh yes, Christen and I went to watch the brilliant movie, The Imitation Game.
Despite the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightly and Tom the driver/Sybil's husband from Downton Abbey is in it (Allen Leech) (yeah sorry spoiler alert if you haven't watched that far *sob* if you have watched further).

Goodness, back to the movie.

Besides its brilliant cast, it was actually  so vividly wonderful and disturbing at the same time. The way Allen Turner lived, thought and died, was just so saddening but inspiring.  I know this probably makes no sense but to me it does. His whole life no one expected anything of him, he was an outcast, and a loner. But he had this brilliant mind that ended up saving lives and basically inventing the computer (or as he named it Christopher).

I am convinced he had autism. The way he interacted with his fellow workers while trying to crack inigma, hurt my heart. People with autism, amongst other things, take everything literally. So if I say to you 'the dog needs to go for a walk', a person with autism would take you serisouly, and might think you quite stupid for just blurting out these words with no meaning. To them, you are simply stating a fact. You on the other hand are implying the the dog should be taken for a walk. Autistic people struggle with emotional intelligence,  and I'm sure you can imagine how dark and cold the world and people can be if you don't understand how to interact like normal people.

But heres the thing about this man, and possibly any person with autism, the things he did could never have been accomplished by a normal person. This man had a beautiful mind, like everyone else, but his worked differently, he thought differently because of how his brain was wired.

So here's where the serious note comes in (cause you know, that up there about autism was not heavy enough)  ....

Everybody is different. In their own unique way, everyone really is. You could know someone for ten years and they still surprise you. Everybody changes, we're humans,. We make mistakes and we learn. Sometimes we make mistakes and we make them again and again... sometimes someone can be in the same situation as you but they react differently than you. That's because we're all different. We think differently,  we're wired differently and we have all gone through our own struggles that give us a unique perspective on life. What I'm want you to take away from this is that we are all different, and we are going to dissapoint, but we can't judge someone because they are different. You can't bring someone down because they are different. Its wrong and it hurts. Don't do it.
You don't have to agree,  but everyone is entitled to be different, so be different.  Be your own type of different.

I know there are so many faces to The Imitation Game, but these two matters stuck out to me when I was thinking sbout it. I haven't personally been effected by autism,  but I feel it so deeply, I felt I had to write about it to just put some of my scattered feelings into words.

I hope you'll go and watch this movie, and not judge him for his choices,  instead, look at his reasons, why he did the things he did, and be thankful that he was able to accomplish,  despite everything, the mission he was assigned.

XxxThe mess of unfinished thoughts that I am, Andrea Claire

Living on the Edge

So I just drank a full 250ml glass of milk. This is not really good for me for two reasons,

1) I have a cold (thanks for sharing it with me mom), and apparently you're not supposed to drink dairy when you're sick... you know milk and sinuses... yeah I don't really know why but I heard it somewhere.

2) I am actually allergic to dairy products. But I can cope, just in small dosages. The funny thing with this allergy is that most people allergic to dairy are allergic to the whey, but oh no, not me. I am in fact allergic to the casine which, unlike whey, cannot be removed from dairy. So I can't even drink the substitutes. Fun...

So yes, I poured a lovely large glass of milk for myself, and it was lovely.

Oh yeah, living on the edge
Random.

The phone rang earlier today, and because no one ever calls me I just ignored it, le brother answered it though.
Guess what!?
What Andrea? What?
It wasn't for me :/  it was for le brother (surprise)

YAY

Le brother talks to who ever was on the phone for a bit in his room, then ends the call and leaves for tennis. I am now home alone. Fun.
Not even ten minutes since he has left does the phone ring, again. Seeing as I am now the only one to answer the phone, I have to get up from my seat where I am blissfully enjoying the awesome life of Tessa Violet on the YouTube.
Phone is now ringing quite desperately,  almost yelling to me to answer it. Our phone is portable, and le brother being le brother hasn't put it back in the charger/where normal people put the phone when they're done talking so that other people can find it.... breathe.
End of story, I missed the call but found the phone. It was in his cupboard. No I am not making this up. I had to open the cupboard door in his room to find it. Like who actually does that?
I'll tell you who... le brother.
Got to love your siblings....... or do you?
Just kidding, on the odd occasion my siblings are pretty decent.

Cheers
XAndreaClaire

That Just Right Feeling

You know that feeling when it just feels right?
Maybe that sounds absurd, ambiguous and well just down right strange because you've never felt that before. But after today, I have felt it, and its absolutely awesome.
Tonight I go to bed feeling happy, and greatful.

Let me explain.

You may or may not know this, but I've finished school a year early (and yes, my friends are all still in school and are probably asleep already because they have to get up at 6am to go to school tomorrow *instert a very devious face* while I on the other hand feel like sleeping in tomorrow *insert evil smirk* ;) ). So this year for me is my own kind of gap/adventure/learning and experiencing the real world year. I'll be taking courses in art, dance and psychology,  I'm hoping to travel a bit... the list goes on.

So basically, an alreadly long story short, today I went to register for my part time BA Psych (Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology) course at the university I have decided to attend (with the help of my parents... of course). I left with my mom early, its an hours drive from where I live, to the main campus. When we found a place to park I started freaking out, negative and daunting thoughts ran through my head

Can I do this?
The buildings so big...
There are so many people... and they all look so intimidating...

Eventually I thought that maybe I should just leech off my parents for the rest of my life and never leave the house, like a friend had joked to me that he was going to do. Feelings in my stomach, that I thought were reserved for public speaking and dancing eisteddfods, began to emerge.

But... it all changed when I walked into the campus building and the receptionist smiled so warmly, and so friendilyly (is that even a word???) It was so genuine, and trust me I know cause I analyse peoples faces and their actions to see if they're fake as a hobby. From then my nerves settled, and everyone was like the receptionist,  genuine,  friendly, smiling and helpful.  It took two hours to register, filling in forms, checking course times, tour of the library,  meeting new people... all in all it was a brilliant experience.  When I left, I felt like this was the right choice for me to make. It felt right, and I felt at home and like I belonged.

I know that there will be ups and downs on this road I'm taking this year, but I know that for now and for me this has been the right decision,  and I am going to learn and grow so much, after all, isn't that what life is about? Experiencing new ideas, concepts, tastes, cultures,  people... having fun, and always learning.
Well for me thats what I feel is a constructive way to fill ones time in this life...

Just enjoy it, because life is precious, and beautiful, and we only get one.

:)
XAndreaClaire

Locks of Love

Hello,

So here is a post about something I've very secretly been wanting to do for a while now. Cut my hair. My only problem was having the courage to do it. I have spent almost more than half of my life with long, past my shoulders, length hair. What was holding me back was motivation.  A need to actually make the cut.

Here's the thing about me, I really struggle to do things for myself, and whenever I do things because I want to I usually spend most of my time thinking about what everyone I know is thinking about my choice. Its difficult for me to make my own decisions because I'm scared of being judged for it.
I've been needing a change recently though. I've just finished school, I'm starting a part of my tertery education this year, and so I felt like I needed a change (you know... cause obviously those other things weren't big enough changes for me ;) )
Then the other day we (my family and I) drove eight hours to get to the city of my brothers tennis tournament he's playing in. We stopped half way and had a meal with my dad's A-Type personality cousin, his fabulous wife, and his two young boys. While the guys were chatting about my brother's tennis, us girls were just chatting about my year. The Fabulous wife said she had seen my whatsapp profile picture and said how long and healthy my hair is, but it was almost too long and not doing anything for me. Though it was a shock to hear my own thoughts spoken outloud by someone else, it kinda made me feel like I should do something about it. I told the Fabulous Wife about my doubts of cutting it, being judged by my friends, and she just looked and gave me a look. She told me to stop being stiff and stop worrying about what other people think of me and my choices. She said, and I guess this is kinda drastic but, she said if I died tomorrow in a dar crash then I would die with this long hair that I liked but only kept it because I cared too much about what other people thought of me. She said I should cut it, and donate it to a charity.

This hit home with me. I realised that I need to start living for myself, not selfishly obviously, and stop living for other people. Stop trying to please everyone because its not going to happen. Everyone is different,  with different opinions,  tastes, morals, valued..... so there is no way I can possibly please everyone.

So the second day of my brothers tournament,  I booked to have my hair cut.
As you can see by the picture its short, but you know what?! Almost a week later, I love it. I'm happy.
My hair has been donated to a charity called Locks of Love that makes wigs for people who have lost threir hair for medical reasons. I'm happy because somewhere someone might feel beautiful because of my hair.

Its freeing. And I'm adding, Stop Worrying about what Others think and Start Worrying about what You think, to my resolutions.  I mean, why can't I keep adding things to my list. That way I'll keep growing and improving.
And really, thats what really matters.

XAndreaClaire

Horray for Nice People

Don't you just love it when you meet someone, and they're nice!?
When you talk to then they listening, they've put their phone down and  are genuinely listening.
They catch on to what you like, and send you a joke via whatspp if they think you'll like it.
That's a pretty nice person, but some people are nice and you might not even know them.
You could see a nice person throwing their gum in the bin, and that may seem small, but instead of just inconspicuously flicking it on they ground where some unsuspecting shoe might trod on, they kindy took the time to find a bin.

So yes this is a short post,  but at the same time, remember it really doesn't take that long to be nice to someone.

Be Nice
Xx AndreaClaire

Its a new year

Hello 2015,

You're going to be perfectly wonderful I can just feel it. You have every opportunity to be a fantastic 365 days, and I'm going to try my hardest to make it something special. I resolve to use my time well, not wasting it regetting yesterdays mistakes, but rather learning, growing and moving on from them.
This time of year is an interesting time where almost everyone is making all these promises that most never complete. Some say they're going to finally finished 2013's resolutions,  but sadly they won't. I am a shameful victim of this common trend in the new year but this year I really, truely, deeply want to be better. I want to, in a year frok now, look back at my year and scream, yes scream, from the top of my lungs "YES! I DID IT AND I HAD A GREAT YEAR"
So in the spirit of learning from our mistakes, I have looked back over the years to see if I could spot a similarity with all the new years resolutions I never completed... and you know what they were? They were these impossible, tumblr/pinterest type bucket list resolutions, they were something like this:

Always be HAPPY (yeah sure)
Never get ANGRY (please....)
Make sure everyday is the best....

The list could go on of my 13, 14, 15, and 16 year old selfs resolutions.  In a way they're cute and cuddly .... but they're definately one thing, ambiguous and very impossible.
Life is life, its unfair, and the world we live on is run by sinners who are all very human humans. We all make mistakes, we all have days where things are going so badly it seems like your bed is the only safe place out there. People hurt us, they get on our nerves and annoy us. They chew really loudly when they sit next to you and you sometimes get to that point where all you want to do is pack your suitcase and run away to a very remote island.
Life happens, we snap, we get angry and we're not happy.

So my resolution for this year is one thing only.
I want to make the most of this year, and this life that I've been given.
If live happens and my day is really sucking, I want to train myselt to look for something to smile about. I want to teach myself to cherish my opportunities and not always look for the 'bad' things.

And thats it.

I hope this post helps you to tone down your new years resolutions to a more manageable list. Or if you've never make one, I hope this inspires you.

You are so special, and I promise, if you look for the good in your life, 2015 is going to be a super spectacular year for you and you'll see things you've never seen before

Xxx
AndreaClaire