Don't you sometimes wish for a day for every day?

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Exactly at 11:11, I made a wish. A wish that there is a day for every day.

You are probably gonna hate me for making this particular wish. Damn you person for making such a wish! Is a year not enough for you??

But I certainly need a day for every day! What do I mean by that? By that I mean that for every Monday, I need another one. For every Tuesday the same, etc....

Why? Would you ask. Well, because my workload is a lot and I am struggling to keep head above water. I am usually 'til late busy with academic work. It takes me the whole day to complete my work, which must be handed in next. The days are flying past like tennis balls being shot out of the machine.
But after my day is done, I haven't made time for the people in my life and therefore I need a day for every day, so I can get the chance to spend it with them!

Maybe I need time manage. Maybe I need to sleep less. Maybe maybe maybe.
But this is my wish, which will not be granted. So stop hating me for my wish and chill! Life is short, enjoy the days. They go by so fast.

I am officially a graduate!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen 

I am a graduate.

I am a graduate!

I AM A GRADUATE!!!!!!!

The idea is only sinking in now, since I officially have my degree in Communication and Languages! These 3 years have been hard, but extremely amazing, as well! All the hard work, the late nights or the nights with no sleep at all, the calls to my mom in tears, the partying with my friends, going out even though there is still work to be done, the last minute running to give in a project on time: it has all come down to this day. The day that I have GRADUATED! But believe me, without all the amazing people in my life, I would not have been able to achieve it!

   

My amazing friends, who won't even let me be silly alone, because they wanna join

There must always be a balance in your life, otherwise you will go batsh*t crazy, so to my friends, thank you for ensuring that I have a social life outside of all the academic work! You make life worth while and fun.

My group. We achieved so much together in our studies and projects

We cried together, we laughed together and we motivated one another through the 3 years of studies! We achieved a third place in one of our campaigns last year, because we made an excellent team! I am so proud of them and so glad we could all graduate together!

My amazing and beautiful parents

My parents are the people, who made it all possible! I am infinitely grateful to you and everything you have done over the years! You guys are my motivation and my inspiration!!!! Thanks for always being there and supporting me through everything! YOU ARE AMAZING AND ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! 

My gorgeous grandparents

They are my No. 1 supporters! My grandpa, grandma and my Aunt Debbie, Ronel, Anton, Wynand and Leon, thank you for everything! I am really grateful for your support! 

Without my friends and family, I wouldn't have been able to do this by myself! So, I am sharing my degree with all of you!

Time, precious time...

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Some people never have it, others have too much on their hands and others never make it and others are never on it. What can it be?

TIME, OH PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS TIME!

Many of my friends are in relationships, but mostly not in happy relationships. Why? Because they never have time and their significant others never make time. Catch 22 much?? How can you expect the other person to make time, if you never make time yourself? YOU HAVE TO MAKE TIME.

Lately, I have realized how precious time really is. Most of my friends don't want expensive gifts or surprises everyday from their lovers. They only want their precious time! But how do you make time if you never have time?

YOU MAKE IT:

• Get up earlier and buy/make coffee for your lover before his/her day starts.
• Do homework or projects in the company of one another, at least you can see them then.
• Ask them which classes they have and show up early and surprise them. Even if it is for 5 minutes only
• Make food together or go and eat together. You have to eat so might as well do it with your lover.
• Prioritize and plan ahead so you will be able to make time.

There are so many ways to make time to see the precious people in your life and to make spend it with them. Life is short and we should prioritize so we have time for the things that really matter. 

Let the adventures begin: My final year as student!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

My fourth and final year has started! This is the year of adventures, hard work and good times. This year I have a big, single room, which means music all day long and being only considerate to myself!

2015 will also consist of great friends and food, in no particular order! They will be part of the adventure of 2015! 

On the RAG farm, soaking wet with great friends!

The food of 2015!

I also have a bucket list to complete this year that will be part of the adventure. Check it out here.

This will be my year! Let the games begin and may the odds be ever in my favor. How will 2015 be for you??

My word for 2015

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Words are very powerful things, therefore I like to pick a word each year to live by. I strongly believe that if I make that choice to live by the word then it will happen in that year.

My word for 2014 was Happiness and 2014 was a truly happy year for me. I constantly made the choice to be happy and make the best of everything. My quote for 2014 was "Happiness is an inside job", it will also be my quote for life.

My word for 2015 is ADVENTURE! Yes, I want to have adventures this year. It will be my last year as a student and I want to enjoy every single moment of it.

I will say 'YES' to every opportunity to have an adventure and to just have fun. I will also have to work very hard, but I will aim for adventure every day.

Also, happy New Year to all my faithful blog readers and to the new ones! I hope you all have a year filled with happiness and adventure. So here's to 2015 that is going to be an adventure!

What is your word for 2015?

Babysitting two girls

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

We struggle to find things to do for my baby sister during the long December holidays. The schools and holiday care at the school is closed for the festive season and we are running out of ideas, so my sister's best friend came to sleep over, last night, and she played here for the day.  This is roughly the summary of my babysitting adventures:

Coloring in Tinkerbelle

Painting ceramics

A letter to the Tooth Mouse/ Fairy

My sister had lost her tooth, because she refused to take it out, only to later realize that it wasn't in her mouth anymore. We had to write a letter to the Tooth Mouse, asking forgiveness and asking him if he would be so kind as to search for the tooth and to still give my sister money for it.

Pizzas for lunch

 I made the girls delicious, little pizzas after they nagged me for it, only to change their minds that they want pasta and I ended up eating it.

Playing dress-up 

Clay play- making all sorts of interesting things

Man, kids are different kinds of species and hard work. I am waiting another 20 years before I get my own children. Babysitting is hard work and I have mad respect for all the teachers, babysitters and nannies out there.

Communication degree: COMPLETED!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

On Thursday I wrote my last test for my communication degree, I wanted to scream with joy after the test, but I had to be considerate of the other people who were still writing. But on the inside I was screaming of joy!

I MADE IT THIS FAR!!!!!

Blood, sweat and tears were all part of my degree. So were all-nighters, calls to mom crying my eyes out, running like an Olympic champion to give projects in on time. and also going to write an exam for the second time, because I failed the first exam.

Yes, it wasn't always easy, but there were more good times than bad. I made amazing friends, who will be my bridesmaids. I have fallen in love and also fallen out of love. I have learned to replace my "what if's" with "Oh well's". I realized that it is fine to not know what the future holds and to simply tackle each day as it comes. I discovered myself.

My amazing group of friends

We had a lot of group projects this year and in previous years, we had people in our group who did nothing and we were stuck with all the work. This year we had the perfect group and they became my best friends (See photo above). We worked very hard, but also played hard. Without that combination I would've drowned.

Unfortunately, some of my friends are not going to study further and my last goodbye's have been said. But most of my friends will be staying on and doing their Honours or a diploma of some kind.
I will also be making new friends next year when I am doing my post-graduate diploma in management.

I look forward to the adventures and the unknown awaiting me next year. I am also gonna complete my bucket list for university. This song is my motto for next year:

But that is next year! Now, I am going to enjoy my 2 months vacation and spend some time with my amazing family and friends from home.

My bucket list for university

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

I am final year Communication student at my university and it got me thinking that I have not done everything that I wanted to do here. I still have a year left at my university because I'm going to do a post-graduate course in management, which means I have a year left to complete my bucket list.

My bucket list will only make sense to me and the people studying at this university with me, but I will still share it, because sharing is caring....

• I want to 'Sokkie' in Impala (It is a dance form, which I want to do in Impala [a bar/pub/dance place])
• I want to get a tattoo.
• I want to attend a class, that I am not registered for.
• I want to hide in the library so that I can spend the night there with friends and watch movies.
• I want to pull an all-nighter with my amazing friends or someone special or both.
• I want to go to the roof garden in F1.
• I want to go to the 'Purple' garden, which is on one of the roofs on campus. I always see it when we drive over the bridge.
• I want to go to Potch Liggies, but with someone special or great friends (view where you see the city lights)
• I want to go on an adventure with my friends.
• Dress silly and go and eat in the Draak (Our campus restaurant/bar)
• I want to go and eat at all the dining halls.
• I want to see what is behind the random doors on campus
• I want to go and watch a rugby game with my dad.
• I want to go to a spa therapy with my mom
• I want to dress up silly with my baby sister and go out to a mall or something.

If I think of anything else, I will gladly share them afterwards... What is on your bucket list?

Surviving in a residence

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

I am a third and final year Communication student and since my first year, I’ve been staying in a hostel. An all-ladies hostel. Meaning hormones, moodiness, back-stabbing, but also so much love and friendships... I've also met my bridesmaids here. 

My hostel is the home to 260 unique ladies and that means unique things happen and you learn your lesson very fast here. Here are the things that my friends and I have learned:

• ·         Sometimes it’s better to not see/hear anything (Jonanke)
• ·         Never leave your dishes in the kitchen, no matter how insignicant you think it is, it will disappear (Mart-Mari)
• ·         There is not really ghosts in the residence, but yet you sometimes believe it (Toni)
• ·         People who do not live in residences will never really know what goes on there (Hanri)
•        Never stay next to the balcony, because you will have people constantly smoking next to you and chatting very loud (Mone)
• ·         You get one toilet roll per week. TOILET ROLLS ARE GOLDEN! If you accidentally forget them in the bathroom, they will be gone by the time you go looking for them.
• ·         Silence is not golden.
• ·         It is totally acceptable to walk in pajamas all day long or slip into your pajamas any time of the day.
•        The more you participate, the more friends you will make.
•        The more you participate, the more fun you will have.
• ·         Bathing is too much cleaning work (because people don't clean after themselves) and it takes too long to take a bath. SHOWER INSTEAD.
• ·         The walls are thin. Watch what you say and keep your music down or you will have angry neighbors.
• ·         There will be someone studying the same as you, so get yourself a study buddy to make things a bit easier.
• ·         Buy some earplugs for noisy nights.
• ·         You will have a lot of friends in the residence, so doing projects can sometimes be hard when they pop.
• ·         Having a tidy room, makes you more positive and feel task-oriented.
• ·         If you go to sleep before 11 pm, people will ask you if you're sick. NO ONE SLEEPS EARLY.
• ·         Watching scary movies is not great when returning to the residence. A residence is scary by nature.
• ·         Watching a lot of series' is acceptable.
• ·         Being up to date with ALL the movies and series is acceptable.
• ·         Great food is scarce.
• ·         Having an almost empty fridge is common and not strange. Fridges mostly contain sauces and food that no one wants to eat.

·      I would not have preferred to stay anywhere else, it is so much fun to participate in activities and all the friends that one makes, makes life worth the while.

Living in a residence makes you part of something fun, you will have stories to tell your children one day. Living in a residence has taught me many lessons and how to work with other people.

Also check out my post about the things that university guides will never teach you.

A toast to a dear friend

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

My dear life long friend has decided to go work and travel in Versailles, France, for 7 months. 7 months! It feels like a lifetime to me! She will be an English assistant at a school there. She will always be able to travel in her off-time. I am very happy that she has this opportunity to broaden her horizons. But she is leaving us behind!

Marinda and me have been friends literally since birth, but actually Marinda is more than that to me:
I looked up the definition of friend in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2011: 568):
"a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations". But Marinda is way more than that to me: She is my lunch-buddy, my go-to when I need advice, my best friend, the person who understands me best, my soul sister.

We organized a farewell party for her, where we had a lot of fun and the other night, I had the opportunity to be her date to the formal, where it was our final farewell.

We are the complete opposite. We are night and day. The moon and the sun. Whatever you want to call it. But I believe that is why our friendship works so good, we can never get bored of each other, because of the fact that we differ so much. She is my friend that is my missing puzzle piece.

Marinda, I hope you have a wonderful journey of a lifetime in France. I hope you find yourself in ways that will amaze you. I hope you make friends all over the world. I hope you eat and drink as many weird and wacky things there, because you only live once and life is too short to be on the safe side! I hope you love walking down those beautiful streets every single day and that you will walk in the rain instead of avoiding it. Embrace the cold and the winters and maybe even the snow! I hope you do crazy things and make up your own bucket list! Well, this is kinda a demand ha-ha!

My friend, I wish you well. I really do hope that you have one great adventure and I cannot wait to hear all the amazing stories.

Listen to this song, it reminds me of the journey you'll be having.

I love you, Marinda, and I will miss you. But mostly I'm excited for you!

Extremely blessed

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

This weekend, I celebrated my 21st birthday. My friends and family made it extremely special. I have tears in my eyes of thankfulness to each and everyone.

At my 1920's Gatsby 21st

First of all, I would like to thank my parents and especially my mom. They did so much effort with my party and with my birthday. The tables looked beautiful, the food was amazing and I even had a birthday cake! I think this was my first legit birthday cake! It was amazing! Thank you Mom and Dad, you are everything that children wish for. You spoiled me rotten. I really love you.

My aunt Debbie, my grandmother and grandfather for the wonderful and big presents. You really spoiled me in ways, I cannot ever say thank you enough!

The cake!

I would also like to thank my friends for enjoying my party with me and all the wonderful gifts I received. Without my friends I would be hollow. we had the best night and danced our feet off doing the Charleston on the dance floor!

My friends dressed beautifully!

My gorgeous sister and her outfit

My 21st was everything I hoped for and I couldn't ask for more because it was THE BEST!  Thanx to everyone that made it so wonderful and great!

CANSA relay for life

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Yesterday, we went to the annual CANSA Relay for life. This was my second relay of CANSA that I attended and it is always great fun!

This relay was to raise awareness about cancer and to raise money for CANSA to help cancer patients. A few years ago,, I detected a lump in my breast. It is a very scary thing to discover.
The lump is benign. But after the detection, I decided to support wherever I can.

They have been planning this event for months and we really enjoyed ourselves. At the starting line you buy a necklace and add a bead for every time you walked around the field.

There were also food stalls and health stalls next to the field to show you how to lower your risk to cancer. A friend and I, went to check our health...

I am almost 21 and my age in health is 21.1, so I am not that unhealty, except that I should learn more good habits in order to live a healthier life. Challenge accepted!

Happy 21st!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

(This post is in Afrikaans and written for my best friend)

Liefste Melanie,

Die eerste dag wat ek jou ontmoet het, was die dag toe my lewe (onwetend) drasties sou verander. Twee awesome Graad Eentjies.
Dit het als begin by n sonpaneel sakrekenaar,
wat nie jou nommer aan die einde van die dag,
wou stoor nie. My hart was in stukke.

Ek sal nooit jou "Malkoei" drama-opvoering op die Voortrekker kamp vergeet nie,
Dis wat n mens noem; PRICELESS!

Hier is ons vandag, 14 jaar later, steeds vriendinne.
Maande gaan verby wat ons mekaar soms nie kan sien nie,
maar ons kekkel dan soos hoenders, wanneer ons mekaar weer sien.

Ek kan nie my lewe sonder jou in dink nie!

Jy is my woorde, wanneer ek nie kan praat nie.
Jy is die lag en die sonskyn vriendin, wat almal verdien.
Jy is 21 vandag.

Dankie vir jou vriendskap deur al die jare.
Mag ek en jy eendag met vals tande, nogsteeds stry oor wie s'n witter is.
Mag ek en jy mekaar eendag op rolstoele,
mekaar rondjaag in die gange van n ouetehuis.
Mag ek en jy lewenslank vriendinne bly.

Mag ek en jy altyd so MAL wees!

Jy weet wat nou gaan volg: 
(Warm gou stem op)

Singing don't worry about a thing,
'cause every little thing is gonna be allright!
(Sing it Ernie)

Singing don't worry about a thing,
'cause every little thing is gonna be allright!
(Sing it Bernie)

Canvas in the subway

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Yesterday, we had Canvas at the university. We paint the subways on campus, to brighten them up. It was the first time that we could paint at the engineering campus' subway, because it is still relatively new. I am not an artist, but our residence decided to have a support team, so me and my friend could also participate! The theme for this year was The equilibrium of opposites.

Beginning our shift as the support team

The start of the canvas

Me with the end-result

Our canvas is two owls, but if you look closely you can see the Ying-Yan sign in the owls. It came out beautifully!

My favorite canvas

We had a lot of fun as the support team. Next year, I'm doing this again!

Varsity Cup

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen 


Varsity Cup is where different universities play rugby against each other. Tonight, we went to back our rugby-boys, who played against Maties (Stellenbosch University).

20 minutes into each half, they pause the game and give the spectators a chance to win some money by doing challenges.

The stadium and extra seating was jam-packed

The Maties guys were much bigger than our guys, but still we out up a very good fight, but unfortunately lost 33-21 to them.
It is a really great vibe each year and it is fun to be part of the crowd.

For the next few Mondays, this is how I will spend it! And making my Mondays less blue.

Free fun

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Yesterday, me and some friends went to swim at the university's swimming pool. We went quite early so there weren't a lot of people, but later on it was jam-packed.

We had so much fun, just cooling off and chilling by the pool. I think we should make more use of the university's recreational places like the pool.

We even got to see a water polo team's practice, which was very interesting.

I make it another regular thing that I want to do on weekends when I am here.

I love LOVE!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Today is the day of love!

I love love, it is absolutely beautiful in it's purest form.

Everyone just looked extra gorgeous today in their red outfits and their 'special' clothes. Even our cafeteria was decorated.

Thanks to all my friends for all the little gestures, it was really appreciated! I had and still am having a great day spending it with friends!

Hope you feel all the love around it and that it is tangible! I LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!!