My very first blog post...

Hi everyone! (or anyone, I don't really know who exactly I'm addressing here)

If you're reading this then you found my blog, and I don't know whether to congratulate you or to apologise in advance, so I'll let you decide. My name's Beckie (Rebecca is my full name, but anyone who knows me knows that it just doesn't suit me) and I am 19 going on 90. The majority of my hobbies are not what you'd expect of a teenager in today's society (some are though, not even sorry), so here's what you'd probably find me doing in real life:

Knitting

I often make little squares and crochet them together to make pillows and stuff

My mum taught me how to knit when I was much younger, and since then I've been using it for a coping mechanism on an almost day-to-day basis. It calms me down, helps me when I have no money to gift people, it means I get to make cool things for myself and it also stops me eating all the food I have whilst binging my favourite shows on Netflix

Baking

I made vegan brownies a while back and they're so good! (recipe coming soon!)

This one is more personal, but who doesn't love eating the leftover cake mix when they've just put their cake(s) in the oven? My Grandma used to do loads of baking when I was younger, and I've always loved the idea of making your own snacks and food because you know exactly what it contains. My flatmates have probably become used to me baking at anti-social hours, and my friends never seem to mind that there's suddenly baked goods to hand!

Crocheting

Crochet is pretty easy to do, I make little coasters for friends and baby hats too

This is a new-found hobby for me, and one I have taught myself. It works for me in the same way knitting does, but it's quicker and way more portable, not to mention far less time consuming

Binging Netflix

I feel my 'continue watching' screen speaks for itself, I'm pretty diverse with TV

This is more of a lifestyle choice than a hobby, but I feel it's pretty darn important to show that I am not just a pensioner at heart (even though I clearly am!) My favourite shows consist of OITNB, Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation, Skins, Bates Motel and many more, I could spend a whole post talking about them all and why I love them so much (watch this space - you never know!)

Reading

My favourite edition of (probably) my favourite book (Mum knows me well!)

If I didn't enjoy reading, I wouldn't be doing my degree. As soon as I could string the letters into words and sentences and understand them, I always had a book on the go. Reading is so fundamentally important to me and my sanity, even though some books make me question how sane I really am (insert hatred for James Joyce's Ulysses here)

University

As I mentioned earlier, I am studying BA Joint Hons English Literature and Publishing at Bath Spa University. My course sounds far more pretentious and complicated than it actually is (think books, the history of books and the publishing industry as a whole...and then more books). I moved from little old Goring-By-Sea (a little village in a town called Worthing, which is right next to Brighton) to beautiful Bath (a culturally rich and picturesque location) which was a huge change. Living away from home really threw me at first, but now I've got some of the best flatmates and friends I could have ever wished for, and a house sorted for next year with five of my favourite people at uni.

Why a blog?

People start blogs for many different reasons. Some do it because they aspire to be the next Zoella, and bask in the fame and money that comes with that. Some do it because they want to show the world exactly what they're up to, be it family, friends, or just people in general. Many do it because they're passionate, and want to have an outlet for their enthusiasm and that passion to flourish and grow. I have decided to start mine because I wanted to have a creative outlet that was my own, not related to my course and was purely somewhere for me to be creative. I want somewhere to put all of my thoughts, recipes, ideas, concepts, opinions, beliefs and general internal ramblings. I also thought it would be a nice way for my family and friends with busy lives to check up on me and see what's going on in my life as and when they can/want to.

I've gone on for far too long now, I'll stop. My bad!

It's been real,

B x