The Clinic

Hey everyone,

I decided to tell you about my current situation of becoming a non-smoker.

Two weeks ago i had an appointment at a non-smoking clinic at my local doctors. The appointment consisted of me talking about my bad habit, why i wanted to quit and the options i could take to help me to quit. I slowly took a deep breath out into the carbon monoxide reader and found myself in an amber warning light situation. My carbon monoxide reading came out at 10ppm. This placed me in the region of light smokers, however if my reading was 11ppm i would have been classed as a heavy smoker and have a red warning light. This was quite a shock to me!

I was eventually put onto a twelve week program run by the NHS to becoming smoke free. I was prescribed a pack of Invisi-patches with the highest nicotine dose the patches provided (25mg). One patch is to be used daily for the next couple of weeks to ensure that my nicotine addiction is being fed safely, my habit of putting the cigarette in my mouth is gone (AND REPLACED WITH FOOD, i might add) and then my nicotine addiction can be slowly weened off in the next twelve weeks. 

Currently, i have just finished my 9th day of non-smoking and using the patches and i have not had a cigarette since Sunday 30th July. It has seriously surprised me at how well i have done over the past days. I have not felt an urge to have a cigarette to the point where i have been really angry or stressed out! The patches seem to be working as i haven't had an issue at all really with not smoking, after a three year period of non stop puffing! For this fact, i am proud of myself!  My friends still smoke, so i thought it would be difficult if i went for a night in town with them at the weekend, whilst drinking alcohol, but i still did not want even a puff of the addictive little 'stick'. 

Last week, at my second clinic appointment i had a carbon monoxide reading of 2ppm, i am officially in the green light and classed as a non-smoker on my carbon monoxide reading. This was a high point for me, as on this day i did have a cigarette with me in my bag as my car had broken and i had to walk in the rain to the doctors and wait another two hours before work, meaning i had to change into my work clothes in a supermarket toilet..i was not pleased-it was one of those days!.

 However as soon as i saw my reading had gone right down i felt so good about myself that i threw the cigarette away and treated myself to lunch a Costa Coffee. That was the only bad urge i have had to have a smoke, and i managed to fight it...quite an achievement i think!

I have another appointment tomorrow at the clinic to see how i am getting on and check my carbon levels again. I shall let you know how it goes! 

But seriously, if you are thinking of quitting i really suggest the clinic...so helpful, and supportive!

Hope your all well :)

Smoke-free Beaumont xxx

“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” ― Socrates

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling 

of a vessel.” 

― Socrates

The most interesting man who ever was.

Chloe Hannah Beaumont

One world, different people

I find it really strange how teenage cultures can differ so much. 

From being in New Zealand from the age of 14 to 18 i grew up in a country where going to the beach with all of your friends for the day, having an adventure around endless fields  lakes and natural surroundings and then going to Auckland City for the night was just the thing to do. I spent much of my 4 years outside finding our own entertainment and having fun whilst we did it. We did not need to spend money to have a good time, it was the togetherness and the adventure that seemed to have us all rolling round with laughter.

However, after being back in England for a year, it seems for some teenagers that is just weird. My home time seems to be about going to the pub everyday, driving round in botched up cars and putting bets on your friends on who would crash first. A constant drama, fight or argument was the normal thing to do day in and day out. Who is having sex with who, how they had sex, how many times and with how many people. It's like i am in a completely different world. Here, it seems as a teenager your not having fun unless you are spending a lot of money, or arguing with your friends. 

Don't get me wrong, New Zealand had it's downfall, teenagers were very keen on drugs, mostly weed more than anything, it isn't as innocent as you may think i am describing it. Every country has it's downfall right?

But tell me, which is better: Teenagers getting along, having fun, not spending all their money everyday on alcohol, but going out. Going to the beach, going camping, going to the skate parks and all just being together. Yes okay, quite a lot of these teenagers smoked weed... but is that better than being in the local pubs every night, drinking yourself so drunk you feel sober, having a fight with your friends..striving on the drama and then going home and waking up to do it all over again? I'm not so sure. 

It seems the two different countries have very different ideologies on how to live life.. 

Sometimes, in England i feel as though i don't fit in because i don't want to argue with my friends constantly or watch grown men hit on young girls and then boys fighting in the middle of the pub. I don't want my personal life to be known by everyone in your home town and it be used as your weakness. I want to travel and see the world... i want to go places, but do people who have lived in towns such as mine really want to do that? It seems they are 'born in England, die in England'.

Please don't get me wrong, i am not saying everyone in New Zealand took drugs and I'm not saying everyone in England wants to be in the pub every night fighting and not wanting to travel. However it appears  that the majority of New Zealand teenagers that i have met want to travel and the majority of English teenagers don't. 

What are your thoughts?

Undecided xxx

Effortless

Title: Effortless ( Thoughtless sequel)

Author: S.C. Stephens

Published: June 13th 2011

Pages: 510

My Rating: 4/5

"Love is easy... truth is hard."

"After being caught in the middle of a love triangle which led to a devastating betrayal, Kiera pledged to learn from the mistakes she’d made. She was determined to never again inflict that kind of pain on anyone, especially the soulful, talented man who held her heart. But life offers new challenges for every relationship, and when Kiera’s love is put to the ultimate test, will it survive? Love is easy . . . trust is hard."

Effortless is yet another romance novel that is well written by S.C. Stephens. Love for Kiera seems to get less confusing yet harder in this book as she struggles with trust issues for her "rock star boyfriend". Kiera and Kellan are unconditionally in love, but it is a constant battle for each of them to trust one another. 

The book, just like 'Thoughtless' is once again gets really long and rather boring during the middle pages but it is a book where you want to read on and know what happens. I always had the urge to skip through some chapters in the middle of the book, you get to the point where you think yes i get it, they miss each other, they don't trust each other, she is crying again, now he is. It drags on a lot. However the book overall, once you have read it from start to finish is very good and a really cute story. I enjoyed it. 

I would recommend you to read this book, and also to be patient with it during the middle. It is totally worth it! 

Enjoy guys!

Relax and speak....or not..

Public speaking- the worst assignment!

I hate public speaking. Yesterday i had to present a ten minute speech on my analysis of the tabloid newspaper-The Sun and a broadsheet- The Daily Telegraph and how they differ to each other on the reporting of celebs...( at least i had an interesting topic i suppose?)

My worst nightmare. However, after a week of planning, deprived sleep from worry, feeling sick and far too nervous to explain, i managed to do it! Very proud of myself for that fact. Some people will think its over-reacting, as i do too, but i just hate them. I hate showing my work to my fellow students, frightened of looking stupid, and i also hate standing in front of a group of students and talking about things that i know they won't be that interested in. So i was dreading it! I feel it went well.. my friends told me i had no reason to be nervous and that it was a really good presentation. I was happy afterwards- now to await my marks.

Normally when i present, i get really nervous, i over heat like I'm suddenly a mile a way from the sun and my face literally changes colour so i look like 'Po' from the Teletubbies obviously not helping my situation. Plus i also talk too fast and pronounce things how they are written..... much to the amusement of my audience. Last  Friday as an example, i had a 30 second practise speech and pronounced the film 'Les Miserables' literally as it is written (lez-miserable-s) as is Lez like the name, miserable as in i am miserable and then with an S on the end. The humiliation, as soon as i said it i knew what i had done. I decided to carry on and pretend i hadn't noticed i had pronounced it like that.. whilst the boys to the left of me laughed (morons!). Ah well.

I managed. i survived and i think it went well so i am happy.

I've always had a problem with pronouncing things i am reading to be honest, I'm really not sure what that is about. I am an intelligent person who always does well in her school work, reading and writing is one of my passions, but oh how i fail sometimes. Let me take you into my world of pronouncing:

Idiot moment #1:  Reading in Oxford, i read that for the first time as Reading a book.

Idiot moment #2: Yacht- Now this word confuses me completely i know it's a name of a boat and you would pronounce it like 'Yot', but when reading it takes my brain a few reads to realise. 

Idiot moment # 3: Les Miserables- the humiliating one, at least when i am normally reading, it is to my self hahaha!

I also find i struggle with hearing words in songs sometimes, much to the amusements of everyone.

Moronic moment #4: The song- Moves like Jagger- i for some reason generally thought the chorus said i have the moves black dragon... WHAT IS THAT ABOUT? ;) i swear...i am intelligent hahaha. 

Moronic moment #5- A kids song says: "Push Pineapple shake the tree". By the age of about 7 i asked my parents what a 'Naple' was because i thought it said "push my naple"... i think i need help. 

Moronic moment #6: The final song from Sister Act says: "you down with G.O.D?" i thought it said "T.O.D".. 

I am a strange, yet i suppose fairly entertaining person who clearly has pronunciation and hearing problems! ;)

Okay, okay, i am over with my strange little blabbering session!

Hope everyone is okay.. Thanks for all your support! (almost 1500 views, 11 followers and 32 posts)

:) xx xx

Thoughtless..

Book review #2

Title: Thoughtless (Thoughtless saga book #1)

Author: S.C. Stephens

Published: October 25th 2012

Pages: 544

My Rating: 3/5

 "For almost two years now, Kiera's boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she's ever wanted: loving, tender and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together, Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university, everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart." 

This book was a interesting read for me. It is a story that not only drove me crazy, but i was so bored yet interested at the same time. I was getting sick of the way the character was feeling all of the time, but then really wanted to know what happened next. Stephens is a good author who begins his story romantically and with many events, however as you are reading towards the middle of the book the story begins to slow and doesn't really go any where until the end of the book. Does that make sense?

It is a boringly-intriguing book, making you want to read on, but finish reading all at the same time. I haven't really experienced this with a book before. I tend to either really love the book and won't put it down, or i am bored and never finish them. Thoughtless is a good book for those romantics out there, a heartbreaking yet loving story about a love triangle between Kiera (the main character),  her boyfriend (Denny) and Kellan Kyle (their newest flat mate). A story that will make you cry, laugh ( no matter what i have said, i did laugh a lot!) and fall in love all at the same time. You find yourself trying to choose which character you would prefer to be with..Denny or Kellen Kyle?!

I personally fell in love with Kellen, the dark musician who found it difficult to love, was highly attractive and had a very dark past. He is a man with serious issues. I like my strange, mysterious dark men... it's a shame no real-life boys are the same!!

"Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source – a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he's purely a friend that she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes...and none of them will ever be the same."

2:1

Have you ever done an assignment and felt like you had no idea what you were talking about? Yeah, that's me on both of my previous university assignments. 

Turns out, i knew what i was talking about. To get a 1st (the best mark you can get) you have to pass with 70%. My first ever assignment i passed with 64%, only 6% off the highest. The second assignment (due on the same day of the previous one) i passed with 68% only 2% off!!! 

I am a happy and proud person!

Wish my luck on my next ones !!!

Thanks everyone, very close to 1500 views!! Thanks for all the support, leave a comment...let me know who is reading :)

Chloe Hannah Beaumont xxx