2013 Personal Highlights

Hello! It's been a while since I posted but once again I've just had a lack of motivation to post on here but as soon as 2014 comes I will be back, for sure!

It is nearly Christmas which means it is almost the new year, last year I did a few of my personal highlights but this year has been so good there is no way I could put it down to a top 10 so I'm just going to go through each month - this is mainly for me to look back on and remember how good this year was for me despite the large amount of lows I had too, let's get on with it!

-JANUARY-

Liam Payne followed me on twitter - This was the one thing that just started the year off for me, never did I think that would happen! I was just sat in the car as he was doing a follow spree and I'm not about that spamming life so I just kept following and unfollowing him and finally gave up, a few minutes later I looked on my phone to see 'Liam Payne followed you' - I thought it was a fake account but it wasn't and you would think a follow is nothing but my hyperventilating proved that maybe it was something special!

Discovered 5 Seconds Of Summer - little did I know how much of an influence they would have on this year being amazing. 

-FEBRUARY-

Luke Hemmings followed - although I did not react the same way as Liam because to me 5sos are very normal boys, it was just quite nice before they got v famo. (He only had 47k now he has over a million followers, crazy). 

Take Me Home Tour round 1 - you can read all about that here!

Other little good bits from February include getting a tweet from Ashton Irwin but like I said, to me they are just normal boys it's like talking to a pal. Although this was not a 'highlight' it's stuck in my mind because I was freezing cold and I thought my toes were going to fall off - waiting to meet Little Mix, failed miserably, not a good day at all. 

-MARCH-

March was a good month for Twitter for me, 5SOS band account had followed and tweeted me and Michael Clifford followed me after I was sending him funny tweets in a desperate plea for him to follow me, but did I even leave my house that month? 

-APRIL- 

Take Me Home Tour round 2 - this was INSANE, I was 6th row with my friend India and it was just crazy and it was so fun, I was so grateful for the seats I had because you feel at the heart of it all - just amazing. 

3 Calum Hood tweets and followed - he properly cheered me up that month he was so lovely and it was all in the space of like a week, I was like 'are we pals yet?'. 

Final Take Me Home date (round 3) - this was my final TMH tour date and I was sat right up the top of the O2 it was so weird going from being 6th row a few days before but in a way it was so amazing to watch the crowd below and around me sing along to every song and I definitely welled up a lot, especially during Little Things because the crowd looked beautiful so I can imagine how it feels to be One Direction seeing that kind of reaction every single night. 

5SOS London Acoustic & meeting them - this was 5 Seconds Of Summers first acoustic show in the UK and it was so intimate and nice and then we got to meet them after and I was nervous but I have no idea why because as I've said before, they're just normal boys! They were all really lovely and it left me super happy although my pictures did not, they were not very good. 

Other good moments of April were being interacted with even further by 5sos on Twitter, it made me realise what nice guys they are and how much time they put into their fans by interacting with their fans all the time. 

-MAY- 

My brother got engaged! - this was a BIG moment of the year even though I always forget he is even engaged but I can't wait for him and my future sister-in-law (that feels weird to type) to get married! 

5SOS London show - as always it was nice to see them live, they always put on good shows and it was the last show before they went back to Australia before they started the American leg of the TMH tour with One Direction, but the show was awesome and is a definite highlight of the year! 

This month was the last month of this year that I actually got interacted with by 5 Second Of Summer, but that just goes to show how much harder it is to get noticed because they're getting so big and popular and I am proud of them, they've come very far this year! 

-JUNE-

Left Sixth Form - yup, I did all of my A-Level exams and left education and that was just really weird.

Also this month we drove to our friends house and put a cheeseburger and chips on our friends car and just drove off, it was such a random thing to do but we still speak about it because at the time it was so funny BUT YOU HAD TO BE THERE - it was one of those moments. 

-JULY- 

My 18th Birthday - This was a day I had been dreading because growing up scares me so much! But it was a really good birthday as all my life I have wanted an Apple Macbook and I got one and I was just so grateful, it became like my child that day. I was surrounded by family and that makes any birthday good for me! Although my mum and dad put up pictures of me all around the estate with 'Happy 18th Shannon', I was kind of fuming to be honest and I might have ripped one or two down. 

McFly at Stratford - STRESSFUL DAY. Me and my friend Libby went to Ipswich train station and stood there for about 4 hours because the lines were all shut as a man was stood on the roof of the station and it was such a bad start to the day but in the end we managed to finally get to stratford and were at the front to watch McFly and they proved to me why they had been my favourite band for 10 years! But they got cut off and Danny chucked his microphone into the crowd and I kinda wish I had been hit by it BECAUSE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A STORY TO TELL? 

-AUGUST- 

A Level results & getting into university - So all year I had been putting the idea of university out of my head because I just knew I wouldn't get in but on results day I went onto UCAS and saw that I had been accepted into my firm and insurance and all I could do was cry because I wasn't expecting it, I didn't even get the grades to get in so I don't know how I managed it. For days after I was just crying because I didn't know what to do but I then chose to defer and I'm now super looking forward to starting uni in September 2014! 

One Direction This Is Us Premiere - We went down to Leicester Square on a Monday afternoon and that was going to be our home for the night, we slept on the ground, I fell over, I paid 20p a time to use the toilets, WHAT A NIGHT. The next day came around and we went into the orange pen and I was so pumped up like I thought this would be my moment to meet one direction but nope, it was definitely not because when you're around crazy One Direction fans you just have no chance, I am still bitter about this day. I was so close to finally meeting them, when I say so close I mean centimetres away from them and all I came out with was bad selfies of me and the back of their heads. You can watch my time at the premiere in this video! Danny Jones was a complete legend that day. 

Reading Festival - One of the best weekends of my life, let alone year! Despite the disgusting smell of the toilets, the trek to find a place for our tent which left me wanting to just fall into the ground, not having a shower for a few days, people falling on our tent and having me on edge all night; it was the greatest weekend without a doubt. The line up of artists wasn't my favourite but it was so good so that doesn't matter. I got very merry during Green Day and that night will stay with me forever. I cannot wait for Reading 2014, bring on Blink 182 GAAAH. 

-SEPTEMBER- 

McFly RAH 10 Year Anniversary shows - you can read about my day here! and watch the video below! 

                                      

This month was the month my friends all went away for University and it changed the whole last few months of the year, it's been weirder than I thought it would be but I still love them as much as I did before they left. It makes you appreciate your friendships even more than you already did! 

-OCTOBER- 

Road trip to Sheffield & Birmingham - Me and a few of my friends went up to Sheffield and Birmingham to visit our friends at their universities and it was so cool to experience 'uni life' for a couple of days, it gave me a little bit of a taste of what the fun part of university is like so I'm just that tiny bit more prepared for next year. It was super fun and met some nice people! 

-NOVEMBER- 

AKA THE BEST MONTH OF THIS WHOLE YEAR. 

McBusted announced their tour - This was not only one of my highlights of the year but it has also been one of the biggest talking points of the year, they've sold out so many shows and are constantly adding more dates and I was lucky enough to get tickets and I cannot wait! 

Welcomed 5SOS back to the UK - We went to the airport to welcome them back and it was so weird seeing how many people turned up to do the same thing, it is just so weird to see their fanbase and their popularity growing right in front of me. 

     

Met 5 Seconds Of Summer many times! - The ultimate highlight of my whole year was this, it was just the best month because I got to see my favourite people 3 out of 4 weekends in November and actually got to have conversations with them which is all I've wanted all year because to me they're just similar teenagers to me, they like and do the same things...well I don't tour the world and I'm not in a band, but you know! It was so cool to go to Warped Tour with my friend Libby and just see them strolling around and being normal people because that is what I like to see, although I didn't bother them until we were outside and so were they, I wouldn't have wanted to disturb them inside, me and my friend enjoyed the music as did they. I've wanted to go to Warped Tour almost all my life because it just sounds so awesome and it was and to speak to my favourite band after just topped it all off, it was seriously the best month just being able to meet the people that make me happiest when days are rough. 

5SOS Koko Shows - 2 nights in a row I saw them put on yet more amazing shows, the set list was just awesome and to see Luke sing a song all on his own and just watch the crowd sing it back to him was beautiful. The 2nd night we queued all day in hope of getting near the front and I was until some crazy people in the crowd were making it go mental during the support act which meant I went to the back but we had a sick time just having a little party by ourselves at the back and watching the boys do their thing on stage! 

That month I also met Dougie Poynter and that was quite nice to see him, the last time I met him was 2010 so it was a long time coming!

-DECEMBER-

Not much has happened this month but I hope to have a lovely Christmas with my family and a great new year.

This post was for me more than anything but if you liked it then follow on here and bloglovin if you'd like! 

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

x 

2012 Top 5 Highlights.

So, my previous post was my own personal highlights of 2012 and this one will be ones which may be seen as general highlights to a lot of other people. I've looked around and came up with 5 highlights, which may or may not be a good thing - they may simply just be things which have been big talking points of 2012.

5. Gangnam Style

Also known as - The Most Annoying Song Of All Time, courtesy of me. Why, why, why has this song reached the most views EVER on YouTube? I literally do not see the fascination, the video isn't funny and neither is the song. It's a massive lump of irritation on the world and I wish it would just be forgotten about. But, no that isn't going to happen. It's getting more and more views everyday and I just will never understand. The dance is totally hilarious...can you sense my sarcasm? In all honesty, there will always be that one video that goes totally viral but lets hope the next time it isn't one as annoying as this.

I feel ashamed even posting the video on here. 

4. The 21st December 'Apocalypse' 

Are you all still here? Are you all okay? Did you survive? Yeah, me too. After years of giving myself major anxiety over this day, nothing came of it, thank God! So, you will all know about this date if not then it was a theory based on the Mayan calendar which ended on this date - conspiracy theorists obviously jumped on this and assumed it was the end of the world which made a lot of other people jump on the bandwagon and describe all types of disasters which would be happening on this date. But, nothing happened, what a surprise! Lets wait for the next possible apocalypse date, shall we?

3. The Queens Diamond Jubilee 

2012 marked the 60th year of The Queens reign and it was an amazing time to be British. It definitely brought the whole country together as there were street parties taking place everywhere, Royal memorabilia in shops across the country and of course the events which The Queen attended and were broadcast to the nation. The pageant which took place on the River Thames where over 1,000 boats took part as The Queen and the rest of the Royals watched on The Royal Barge. Also, The Diamond Jubilee Concert was an interesting watch too as it took place outside of Buckingham Palace and it was lovely to see all of the Royal Family having a lovely time together. Grace Jones on stage was a bit strange though. All in all it was a lovely thing to have witnessed, even if it was just from a television, it was still nice to know I was here when The Queen celebrated her 60th year on the throne. It's a nice feeling knowing that the whole country was watching and enjoying the same thing as you and it definitely shows you how united our country is in situations like this. Everyone may have issues with each other but then things like this come about and it's all forgotten about. It's really nice.

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2. The Olympics in London

After years of waiting it finally arrived this Summer and even to this day I miss watching it! It took over my life for weeks as it was all I watched on television. Like The Diamond Jubilee, it brought us all together once again. The opening ceremony which was the product of Danny Boyle's imagination, was amazing to watch. Although, at the beginning, I know personally I was a bit like "what is this?" but as it went on I began to love it, I don't think it can be beaten. We all were worried we wouldn't beat Beijing's previous opening ceremony, but we definitely did. My favourite part was The Queens input, it was so shocking because everyone assumed it would just be a lookalike Queen that Daniel Craig was approaching in Buckingham Palace but it wasn't, it was the real thing. Amazing. Who knew The Queen could do comedy? The Olympics were under-way and Team GB did Great Britain proud by the end of it by getting a total of 65 medals - 29 being gold (source). This event glamorised Olympians and they're now real role models, no funny business. These people have inspired a generation to take part in so many different sports, even I wanted to start but I'm too old to really join a club now. They're all hard workers, they work hard for their success and that's definitely a good reason for children to look up to them. The Olympics was a great thing to have watched and the male Olympians weren't bad to look at for weeks either (yes, I am talking about Tom Daley and Louis Smith obviously). It's going to be hard to beat, I'm talking to you Rio.

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1. One Directions Massive Success. 

Oh, look at me being all biased. Yes, I would obviously say One Directions success has been a massive highlight of 2012 and certainly a massive talking point. Everyone around the world knows of them, whether they like them or not is a different story but they still know them. They are officially the biggest boy band in the world right now and they deserve to be. This year they won their first Brit award for having the Best British Single for What Makes You Beautiful and they definitely deserved it. Maybe I cried, just maybe. The happiness in their faces was amazing and I was just so happy and proud of them because this was just the start of the whole year, there were so many more amazing things to come. Earlier this year they were taking part in their sold out, first solo tour and that carried on in the States and elsewhere, throughout the year. After they won the Brit award they announced their 2013 arena tour and that sold out, in which they sold out numerous nights at the O2 Arena in London (I'll be going to 2, I can't wait). During the year they announced further dates around the world for the 2013 Take Me Home Tour, in total they will be doing 117 dates worldwide. The year went on and they got bigger and bigger and managed to sell out Madison Square Garden in New York, which was their biggest gig to date. To sell out Madison Square Garden is a massive achievement for any artist and I think One Direction definitely recognised this. Adding to their awards, they won a lot during the year as well as being nominated for quite a few as well, but I think the ones that really stuck out for the boys were the 3 MTV VMA's they won, they got these for 'best new artist', 'best pop video' and 'most share-worthy video'. Finally, they released their second album 'Take Me Home' which reached number 1 in 32 countries. Just from this I can only predict even bigger things for them next year, if that is even possible.

5 Personal Highlights Of 2012.

Well, most people who know me will know this year hasn't been my most favourite of years. It's been really hard personally, but I've managed to pick 5 moments which stuck out the most!

Starting with...

5. Twitter follow from Jai Brooks.

In the early morning of the 26th October, I spent a while spamming Jai Brooks with numerous tweets like '#FollowMeJB PLEASE I'LL SHOW YOU MY TITS' which I think may have caught his eye, wink wink Jai. You'll probably think this is a really lame thing to count as a top moment in 2012 but, it honestly made me so happy to the point where I ran into my brothers room at 2:00am saying "I FEEL FAINT". The feeling was immense and it makes you think just how much one little follow can mean to you. It was just a follow but it made me so happy because hello it is Jai Brooks, my favourite out of the Janoskians.

4. Front row for McFly at Newmarket. 

I had waited years for this one moment to happen and it finally happened! I made my parents drive to Newmarket way too early and we were one of the first groups of people there alongside cleaners of Newmarket race course. Maybe I wanted to hang out with the cleaners. Anyway, we got let in and we got to the barrier (we meaning, me and my best friend Brooke). Literally the best feeling knowing I was going to be slap bang in front of my favourite band from my childhood - they still are really important to me, don't think they aren't! The show went on and I was being squished by 3 women and a man, the man was old and so was one of the women and it was just very strange. Very, very strange. All in all, it was an amazing experience which definitely topped off many years of loving McFly.

3. Seeing One Direction @ BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards. 

So, after calling and calling the ticket hotline for the Teen Awards I had no luck and I was pretty distraught. Then, my friend Sarah gave me the offer of coming with her which of course was lovely and I said yes. I was too happy to be seeing One Direction for the 3rd time in total and 2nd time this year (I will get onto the 1st time this year), this was definitely the highlight of this end of the year. It was an eventful day to say the least, we were getting dropped off and Sarahs dad was being asked to move, as we walked along we saw the car behind us go into the side entrance and this girl was speaking and kept saying 'Harry'. I was freaking out and leaping towards the car like 'IS THAT HARRY?!', it was Harry Styles. We had blocked Harry Styles. I will never get over that moment, how many people can say they have blocked Harry Styles? But then, we weren't allowed into the red carpet area and every time a car went past all we saw was...the blacked out windows. Wasn't that just extremely exciting. But then we got into the arena and watched Conor Maynard, FUN. (who were good but I really don't understand why they were there), Little Mix, Neyo, the lovely Taylor Swift who sung You Belong With Me and I was singing my heart out because she is a queen. Then finally, One Direction came on and they were just amazing as you could imagine. This is a top highlight because they are my boys, they are the highlight of everything.

you mad Harry? 

2. Centre Parcs in October with my best friends. 

We were looking forward to this for absolutely ages and we planned to just drink loads and have fun. But, I was ill so I didn't do much at all and had 2 drinks the whole weekend and spent most of the time with tissue stuck up my nose. However, I still had such an amazing time and look back on it almost everyday. It was just such a laugh to be away in our own little place for a few days with my best friends - Corinna, India, Ben, Damian, Ashley, Luke and Jacob. We just hung out in our place, ventured out to go to the shops once or twice and came back to eat and play Monopoly. We sure are a crazy bunch of teens, you know. Luke came out with so many phrases that weekend and we still look back and laugh, at the end of the break all of his little quotes were written on the black board just to give us all a reminder. The final night we were there we went to a quiz, being as sick as we are we came joint 2nd (we came 3rd but we claim we came 2nd, alright?). It was definitely such an amazing part of my year, I love my friends.

1. Seeing One Direction @ Hammersmith Apollo.

I honestly believe this was the most amazing night ever, I've never been so happy to see my favourite singers. I've seen so many people in the past, but seeing One Direction was such an amazing part of my life I just can't put it into words. Me and India went to see them after my parents got me tickets and I enjoyed every second of it. I cried a tad even when the intro video came on, I sung my heart out to every song and was on top of the world throughout. It was right at the beginning of the year and obviously, as it is number 1 on my top 5 list, it was the best part of my year. I sound like a mega fangirl right now, but you just don't understand unless you've felt so strongly about a group of people before. The set list was perfect, the way they were dressed was perfect...it was all just perfect! I spent my night at One Direction instead of revising for an AS Business exam, I got a U. But it was definitely worth it and I can't wait to see them next year on the Take Me Home tour, TWICE. I love them boys. 

This may have been a boring blog post, it's for my own personal gain really so next year I can look back at this and remember my favourite parts!

I'm going to do a '10 Highlights Of 2012' post after Christmas which will include just things in general such as the Olympics, you know. 

So if you want to suggest anything tell me on...

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xo