Wednesday 25 February 2015

Super yummy Bday (or any old day :)) icecream cake recipe !!!!

Hey guys for the last few years I have made my own icecream cake for my birthday party well more of a gathering anyway haha. It is super easy to make and super yummy to, one of my favorites!! And as my birthday is in 2 days it was time to make it!!It is sad to say that last year when I made it I didnt lick the bowl of melted chocolatety icecream or even nibble at the chocolate that went in, which is very sad. But this year was defiantly different!! Haha I ate so much of it before it went into the freezer and it is my cake so why not??!!!
Anyways here is the recipe for my super duper icecream cake:

 1) You will need about 3-4 packets of small chocolate bars or about 20 normal sized ones of your choice and a 2 liter tub of your favourite icecream.
I choose pinkys (chocolate covered pink marshmallow and caramel), Chrunchie's (chocolate covered honeycomb), Flakes ( plain choc which is set in a way in where it is crumbly almost) and Mars bars ( chocolate nougat and caramel) 
It is best to choose soft chocolates or just chop the hard ones into smaller pieces otherwise it will go rock soild in the freezer
2) Chop your chocolate into small pieces, the smaller the better or you might end up with rock hard lumps of frozen chocolate!!  I found it is easier to cut the soft ones with scissors and break the harder ones by crumbling with a knife by 'stabbing' it
                                     
 My choice of icecream, I couldnt decide on one so I got one with all three!!
Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry!!

 3) melt your icecream in the microwave, in sessions of 30 seconds until melted stirring in between
until it looks like this...
 4) stir your icecream in a big bowl with the chocolate pieces and pour into a cake tin lined well with baking paper, you dont want any holes or it will leak all over the place and all through you freezer
*speaks from past experience* I wouldnt try, big mess...
 5) place glad wrap (cling wrap) over the top pressing it on top of the icecream, then fold over the baking paper and place more glad wrap on top to stop the baking paper unfolding, this stops a skin from forming on the top
6) place in the freezer overnight or until set and ready to be served.
It will keep for up to 2 weeks in the freezer but is best when made fresh!!Serve immediately when taken out of the freezer, to serve, take out of the tin and remove all the paper and wrap, place some gummy lollies on top and decorate with candles (if it is for a birthday) !!!

Enjoy!!!
Lots of love
Livvy xoxox!!!

And I will have the finished product on Saturday!!

Symptoms of anxiety

Physical symptoms of anxiety

Anxiety is more than just a feeling. As a product of the body’s fight-or-flight response, anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Because of the numerous physical symptoms, anxiety sufferers often mistake their disorder for a medical illness. They may visit many doctors and make numerous trips to the hospital before their anxiety disorder is discovered.
Common physical symptoms of anxiety include:
  • Pounding heart
  • Sweating
  • Stomach upset or dizziness
  • Frequent urination or diarrhea
  • Shortness of breath
  • Tremors and twitches
  • Muscle tension
  • Headaches
  • Fatigue
  • Insomnia

Emotional symptoms of anxiety

In addition to the primary symptoms of irrational and excessive fear and worry, other common emotional symptoms of anxiety include:
  • Feelings of apprehension or dread
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Feeling tense and jumpy
  • Anticipating the worst
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Watching for signs of danger
  • Feeling like your mind’s gone blank

Heyyyy

Hey guys how are you? I am sorry for not writing in a while :)
I have been sooo tired and exhausted I have just not had  the energy to do anything. This is because on Saturday I had my interclub tennis games (singles + Doubles to nine) and then I filled in for my brothers team as a player didnt turn up so i played four games in total and was out from 8-2pm playing tennis and my muscles hurt soooo much afterwards!! Then on Sunday I had my tennis club champs which invovled playing 4 singles matchs to nine again, on Monday I had an hour and a hlaf of ballet after school and then yesterday I had tennis coaching and our coach thought it would be a good idea if we did cardio tennis!! It was toture!! Hit the ball sprint around the court repeat until all 30 balls were hit, hit the ball do a burpie repeat until balls were gone, and lots of stuff like that and it was fun but soo tiring!! So I havent had the chance to rest and let my muscles rest and recover and I can say it really does hurt to wapk at the moment. I got to thst stage where I just felt sick I was so tired and couldnt function properly. Rest days are good!!!! So yeah.
On Sunday morning I went to my friends Bar Mitzvah!! Well my borthers friend but I have known him and his sister since we started school together. A bar mitzvah is a Jewish celebration when a boy turns 13 yrs old and is now a man. We arrived at the synagogue and it was full of people and there were lots of people I knew including my old teachers from primary!!! We then went into another room and the ceremony began.Most of it was in Hebrew and I couldnt understand it but it was really interesting and I really enjoyed it!! Despite that fact I was soo nervous I felt like I was going to be sick or faint as I got so dizzy as there were so many people around, and when it came to lunch I kinda panicked and couldnt eat anything and I feel bad about it now but at the time with so many people I could not put anything in my mouth. But it was really interesting and cool!!

For art my sculpture is due in 2 days!! Ahhhhh!! and so it will be my fisrt internal worth creadits to go towards uni!!! so I am super anxious I hope I can get excellence creadits or at least merit ones for it!! So I have a lot of work to do for that!!
Anyway ballet was cancelled tonight so I finally can have a night of exercise, few... And it is my birthday in 3 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exciting!!!! I will still have to play interclub from 8-1pm btu then afterwards I will quickly get ready and then i have organized for my firmeds to come over for tea and a movie, I know I should be looking forward to it but instead i just feel panick. But I am sure it will be okay!! My room needs a good tidy before then though!!! haha when I get stressed you can definitely see it in my room hahah!!!

Sorry this was a long kinda boring post I guess
so well done to those who made it through!!!
Lots of love
Livvy xoxox :)

Sunday 22 February 2015

Four years on, anniversary of the Canterbury Earthquake

Today is the 22nd of February and four years ago today, an 6.3 earthquake struck at 12:51pm killing 185 people and changing the lives of everyone in Christchurch forever.

Four years ago today I experience true terror for the first time. I was only 11. We had an earthquake a year before in September which was a 7.1 but was really deep and in the middle of the night so thankfully there were no fatalities of even any major injuries! The one that struck today four years ago ruined our city and is still waiting to be rebuilt to its former glory.
I was at school in the middle of Orchestra practice when it hit ( I use to play the keyboard/piano). It was at lunch so I had just made my gluten free 2 minute noodles from my little thermos with hot water and set them down on the edge of the stage to cook when it hit, thats just say my noodles when everywhere all over the ground and coating myself and my friend who were hanging on under the desk for our dear lives and 3 weeks later when we returned to school as no one was allowed inside the buildings until they were given the all clear there was some very moldy noodles on the stage floor haha :) It was terrifying. truly scary there is no way to explain it unless you have experienced it, the ones in movies and on tv are soooo fake we just burst out laughing who funny they look. It is like something out of a dream, you dont think it is real it is only after you realise what it is. My friend and I managed to squeeze under a desk which had our keyboards on it and thankfully we did as all the stage lighting, the big heavy black lights and all the cords and stuff that was up there on the roof all came crashing down. None landed on our desk but if they did, the desk would of saved our lives. We were then ushered outside (well not really it was more like run outside as fast as you can) and the feeling is horrible, you dont know what to expect when you step outside and you are praying all the other buildings are all standing and there is no one lying wounded or dead on the ground. Thankfully our school apart from cracking were completely fine.
We sat shivering on the school field for 4 hours waiting anxiously for our Mum to pick us up (as Dad was in Australia for work) Hoping that she would come, I cant imagine what it would be like if they didnt turn up, I felt super sorry for my best friend as we were one of the last people to be picked up and she was still sitting there. Her parents are fine but her mum was trapped in a collapsed building for hours so she was waiting at school until 8pm when a teacher took her home to her place where they made contact with them. Waiting in the poring rain with tears streaming  down you face is not very fun.
Listening to the radio station, hearing all the deaths and collapsed buildings including our cathedral. All through the night, not being able to sleep. No power or water for days, supermarkets closed for weeks and when they did open you can imagine how long the ques were!! And you were only allowed a bottle of water per person and a bottle of milk per person over 18, and there were restrictions on bread and such as well. Our grandparents came ad stayed with us the first few  nights after. Boiling water for 5 minutes before you can drink it and most of the time it was a gross brown yellow colour, cold 30 sec showers having to go to the toilet outside as there was no flushing. Horrible.

Anyways that was my experience, And I would like to say for all those who lost someone, stay strong, I am soo sorry!!! All my love xoxox.

Hope you are all well!!
Lots of love
Livvy xoxox

Saturday 14 February 2015

The butterfly project

The Butterfly project

The butterfly project is designed to help people to stop self harming and cutting themselves, and I think it is a really good way/treatment which you can do by yourself and you dont have to tell anyone if they dont know in the first place, it can be a completely individual thing. It is in a form of a game (sort of?) which you can challenge yourself with, which I think is a good idea as it is all you and your will to stop self harming. So here it is....



THE RULES: 

1. when you feel like you want to cut, take a marker or pen and draw a butterfly wherever the self-harm occurs.
2. name the butterfly after a loved one, or someone that really wants you to get better.
3. NO scrubbing the butterfly off.
4. if you cut before the butterfly is gone, it dies. if you don't cut, it lives.
5. another person may draw them on you. these butterflies are extra special. take good care of them.
6. even if you don’t cut, feel free to draw a butterfly anyways, to show your support.



Even though I dont self harm any more but I use to, and I know how hard it is and it is used for a method of coping but you have to realize in the long run it does more harm than good. I now draw a butterfly on my ankle to show my support, so if you ever want me to name a butterfly after you, please ask I would be happy to, I just want you to recover and have the happiness you deserve!!!!


Stay strong, you can do it
Lots of love
Livvy xoxox

Hard day...

Hey guys how are ya?? Hopefully fantastic!!

Toady has been tough but hey I have survived it! Thats what matters.
We went out for breakfast to a cafe, and I ordered scrambled eggs with toast and it came out with bacon as well so nice sufprise I guess, even though it did make me panic a bit. And it was huge!!! So my parents let me off not finishing something this time, few... But I did eat a good amount and was super full afterwards.
After that as we were in town we went into the museum and B ran around it. On our way in there is a big donation box thingy with a sign saying average donation is $5 per person, which is fair enough as otherwise they wouldnt earn anything to keep it running, but a tourist came up and put in $0.10 in and said thats a pretty good donation foro them, and he was so serious like he wasnt kidding he thought it was a great donation and obviously wasnt familiar with NZ coins and my brother and I just burst out laughing as it was sooo funny just the way he did it and then we got a weird look from him and his tourist group which just made us laugh more!!! haha it was great :)
Then it was back home and babysitting my 2yr old brother and then putting him to sleep while R and my parents were out and then out to tea!!!
For tea I had chicken tenders with steamed veges (yes it was off the kids menu but no one needs to know that :) never too old for the kids menu :)) Which was actually very nice!! I was surprised, and the veges had a butter sauce type thing on it and I am proud to say that didnt put me off and it was oh so yummmy!!

Anyways tomorrow is back to school :( and my timetable is history,science, english, french and then art. But  it isnt too bad as it is my only day in my 2 week timeatble that I dont have maths!!! Yayyy!!! And I have history, science and art too which are my fav subjects! But even though I have a good timetable tomorrow I still feel all sick and shaky about it, I wish I ccould just make it go away!! I try so hard and practice my breathing and relaxation exercises every day but it never seems to leave me alone!!! and I have nooo idea what I am going to take for lunch to that I know I will be able to eat so panic mode!! But thats the normal for me on a sunday night, I guess I should be use to it now.

So thank you to all my lovely readers!!!
Lots of love
Livvy xoxo

Happy Valentines day!!!

Happy Valentines day everyone!!! Today is all about love so make sure you take care of your body and give it some extra love today!!! Maybe you could wash your hair, paint your nails and put on your favorite clothes. Love all your scars as they are just like tattoos but with a little more history, I noticed mine for the first time in ages today, I guess I just forgot they were there and are use to them now but it is almost a year ago today those scars were made on my ankle and one on my arm on the top by my hand (it is funny to think at the time I was 'punishing' myself in a way but at the same time was too scared to do it by my veins incase of injuring myself??!! hmm... I shouldn't of done it in the first place, I cant even image doing anything like that to myself now, which is great!!)
Anyway make sure you love your body today of all days as it is yours and it is perfect just how it is!! xoxox

Today has been freezing!!!!! soooo cold!!! My hands and toes have been white and purple all day as I just havent been able to keep them warm!!! It didnt help that I spent my morning form 8-12;45 outside watching my brother play tennis as I had a bye today (although I wish I was playing not sitting because at least I would be running around and warm then!!) It was okay for most of it wrapped up in my fluffy jumper and my puffer jacket until it started raining of course!! And them my jacket smelt like wet dog and was soaked and not warm at all and there was no shelter at the courts and my Dad had gone home to put B to bed for his sleep so I couldnt sit in the car either!! Typical NZ weather like winter and pouring and freezing in the middle if summer!!

The rest of my day was spent making dark chocolate and pistachio cookies and M&M biscuits (which taste sooooo good!!!) and I will post the recipe tomorrow as it is getting late now!! And making a tree out of wire all by hand for my sculpture for my internal due in 2 weeks which looks really good but took me over an hour to do pretty much two to do so I am glad I got that done, I just need to paper mache it and then paint it and glue little individual leaves onto it, and ta da tree complete!! So far I am happy with how it is looking and my 'dirt' looks very realistic and so do my floor boards (popiscal sticks covered in beetle goop aka wood varnish which is make out of beetle goop and smells soo bad and stained my nail yellow :) haha) but it looks good so hopefully I can get some excellence credits for it!!

Lately  as you already know my anxiety has started to get worse again, which I am hoping wont last much longer, but today my anxiety abotu food has started to get bad again and I found i struggled eating today quite a bit so not very happy about that and becausee of that my IBS has been bad today so my stomach hurts soo bad too, which has not helped.
Tomorrow my parents decied we are going to go out for breakfast... Super nervous and the place we are going to have suupre big meals so I know I am gong to struggle, yay fun. I am soo anxious.
It is also my Poppa's (Grandads in case you havent come across Poppa before :)) birthday tomorrow 78!! So happy birthday to him!! Love you xoxo!! And to celebrate that we are going out to tea as well... and then home for cake so tomorrow is going to be hard. Very hard. But I will cope, hopefully... No I am sure I can do it!! And on the note of birthdays mine is in 14 days!! Ahhh!!

One of my friends is in hospital at the moment as she had a appendicitis and had surgery to remove her apendix yesterday so I wish her all the best and a super speedy recovery!! We want you back at school and all well again as soon as possible!! And I know very well what it is like to be in hospital and the food there and it is not very nice, so I feel reaalllyy sorry for her so get better soon!!!! I still cant believe when I was in hospital and they served me fish with meat gravy!!!! ewww!!But at that point I was very sick with my kidney and was still getting over the morphine they gave me too much of and turns out I am allergic too so I didint have to eat it thankfully!!

Anyway I hope you had a great Valentines day full of love!!!
Hope you are all well!!
Lots of love
Livvy xxoxxoo :)

Monday 9 February 2015

Hello allll!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys I hope you are all coping very well!!!

Today I think I will just write a quick update!
Yesterday I had my first ballet lesson again for this year! Grade 8, the last grade!!! I have noo idea what I am going to do after I finish half way through this year (thats if I pass my exam :)) I mean I have been doing it for 10 years now so it will seem super weird not doing it!!! Anyway I really enjoyed it and it was great to get into it again, even though I lost a lot of my felxabiblty over the holidays as I didnt do very much strechting, which is fine every body needs a break for time to time! Its not that bad but I cant get down on my bad leg splits any more ooppps :)
School has been sooo stressful!! Yr 11 is soo full on right from  the word go. I know it is because it is 'the year that actually counts for something' with exams ahh!! And I am in all of the extention classes (math, english and science) so we do even more work than what the normal class would and we do level 2 as well as level 1 which is sat at my year. So it is hard, and I have a tonne of homework each night but I have study periods as well so I am handling it okay. Which I have first tomorrow, and I finished all my work tonight as I didnt realize so I have an hour of sitting in silence tomorrow haha!!
  But I am really stressed so my appitiate has gone down to pretty much nothing so it has been hard to eat enough lately especially at lunch at school, I am thinking I might take one of my supplements to school again as otherwise I feel I am eating pretty much nothing at school even though I dont want to but I think I should because all I manage to eat at school is fruit and a few crackers which isnt enough even though I eat extra at home.
Art I feel is the worst at the moment which is weird as it use to be my favourite. It is soo full on and we have 2 weeks to make a detailed sucpture which I am panicking about, and so much paper work too, so they kinda took the fun out of it...


I have been struggling with school lunch at the moment so if any one has any good ideas which I can take to eat please comment!! As we take packed lunch from home.
I would also like to thank all my readers for reading my blog as it means the world to me!! Thank you soo much, it makes my day seeing that you have read it and sometimes left a comment or even better a email which excites me soo much and makes me super happy!! So thank you all soo much!!


Lots of love
                                                                       Livvy xoxo :)
I hope you are all well!! You can do it!!

Saturday 7 February 2015

Happy Waitangi day!!

Hi guys I know it is a day late but Happy Waitangi day!!
Waitangi day is our national public holiday as it was the day the europeans and the Maori signed the treaty of Waitangi for peace and land deals etc. and it was signed in Waitangi :)

Waitangi day - the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, celebrated as a public holiday in New Zealand on 6 February since 1960
Although we didnt do anything special it was still a awesome day (with no school:)) And we spent the day as a family which was super nice!!

So Happy Waitangi day!! Andlots of love 
Livvy xoxo

Monday 2 February 2015

First day of school ...

Hellooo all!! I hope you are doing fantastically well!!
Today I had my first day of yr11 !! And let's just say my stress and anxiety levels are through the roof right now.. Not fun. It started off okay but then I had no one I knew in any of my classes except two but one has a seating plan and one the person I know has a group she is already in so I have been pretty much sitting by myself surrounded by people I have never met and don't really talk, or the have friends next to them. So yay... And then all the work is really hard, as I made the extension class for science, math and English and because of that I know I am capable of that class but when surrounded by people who are all very smart it just makes me feel really dumb, but I know that's not the case as I was top of class in science and got good grades in math and English so in a normal class I would be at the top but I now feel at the bottom of the top if that makes sense... :)
So who gives out homework on the first day?? My English, French, art and science teachers do!! Haha yay!! More stress!!  Not fair! hahah!!! :D
For art this year we make up a folio with all of out paintings in it for 6 credits (Ahhh) and we gt told today we have to think of a theme for the whole thing as we are starting our sculptures tomorrow!! So me in full panick mode and can't think strait and with all my hw and anxiety end up completely just breaking down :( but I managed to pull myself together after about an hour of sitting at my computer trying to find something I could use as m theme mostly crying as it wouldn't work and more panicking but I get there adventually :) so at first I thought of doing a underwater/fish theme but I am pretty sure that would be waayyy to hard as I have never painted water or waves to look realistic  and throw in some fish I don't think it would work and I would get bored of fish after about 25 paintings which we have t do.
Soooo my theme is dun dun sun... Plants! Haha seems like the boringest theme ever but I can do bugs and butterflies, birds, flowers, trees, logs, bushes, shrubs, jungles, forests trees etc that way so hopefully I won't get bored of it as there is a big variety of things rather than 25 pics of fish XD we saw some of last years and there was one with 30 paintings of motorbikes! Haha that would get boring fast painting the same thing over and over for a whole year! But you never know he might of loved motorbikes :)
But I am worried as one day and I am already super anxious and stressed out, so I don't know what I will be like at the end of the week and walking wreak probably XD haha!

But anyway that wasn't so interesting was it.. Sorry, well done if you got to the end :)
Hope you are well lots of love
Livvy xoxox