a little holiday

So. we are one week into the school holidays. I spent that week doing some of the most amazing, adventurous, memorable, magical things I have ever done in my life. And since I haven't posted in ages I thought I didn't have an excuse this time and needed to share some of these experiences. I'll start off saying I never really go on holidays so I am so grateful that I was able to go on one. 

This trip was filled with blue skies, gorgeous tropical weather, palm trees, animals, coral and happiness. I can't say I've ever exactly seen a nice sunrise since I don't go on that many trips, (at least pretty rises) So when I found out there were sunrises over the ocean on this holiday, the first thing I wanted to do was to go and see one. So...I did just that. 

We had some very long days, very long days, but doing some of the best things. First off, I went to the oldest forest in the world. Gosh, that was such a privilege. We fed kangaroos and joeys and even went to a river to see if we could spot any crocodiles! We didn't... Other than one baby crocodile that we could barely see. I basically just got a glimpse of it. We then went to one of Australia's best reefs, The Great Barrier Reef. I had never been there so I was so excited to go. We went on a boat that took us to an island that had beautiful white sand and was surrounded with the most blue natural water I had ever seen in my life! (In one of the photos below of just the water, gives you an idea of it) Basically...It was heaven. 

I loved floating above the fish, coral and clams while snorkeling. It was so, so relaxing and I never want to let go of that memory. There was a photographer there too, and she got some pretty hilarious photos of my mum and I underwater.

If you know me well, you know I adore photography so I practically filled up my dad's camera with photos. Oops. :)

All in all, probably my favourite holiday I've had and I wish it went longer than 5 nights. However, Easter is tomorrow! Maybe there will be another post on that? Again, I'm very, very grateful that I could go and if you want to, feel free to comment what you've been up to...Or where you want to go?

Claire x

morning motivation + some other things

So, when I set my alarm to 6:15 in the morning on weekdays...Let's just say I'm not very motivated to get up so, I thought I would share some ideas to help you get up in the morning. These all revolve around motivation.

-  [quotes] I love searching up inspirational quotes to help me get up in the morning. My favourite one I found, (shown above) is 'Your dreams can only come true if you wake up' Because, it's true! If you have huge dreams but your ideal day is to sleep for hours on end, how does that bring you any closer to your goals?

-  [be grateful] Waking up in the morning and thinking to yourself, wow. 'How lucky am I to have this chance to go to school and learn about very important subjects' I've been saying that to myself lately and it honestly helps. (At least for me, that is) 

Anyways, sorry if that was little bit random. Just with the new year and school being back I thought it may help? No? Yeah...Okay. Recently I've been getting back into the way of water colours. I recommend you try it out. Lastly, Frankie. A few months ago I joined the group of Frankie lovers. Shown above, this is the first copy I was given, I do have a newer Frankie and I am looking to get the Frankie that very recently came out. 

I hope you all have a very lovely week! (I wasn't too happy with my latest post so that's why it's deleted//If you're wondering)  

Claire x

Hello there, I'm Claire. Of course, I must welcome you all to my blog Bright + Clear. If you want to learn more about me and my blog you can click here to open a new tab and have a look around there. I've been trying to push myself to start a blog but of course I couldn't do it because...I didn't like the header, didn't like the layout, didn't like my posts, etc. So because the year is flying past already I didn't want to waste anymore time and just get things done. So, this is what I've come up with! There will be changes throughout this journey, (obviously) but for now I'm happy to just give this a go. Now on with the blogging... 

-High School

Lately I've been doing lots of different things with lots of changes. I started High School around 3 weeks ago which was massive for me. I didn't know anyone apart from two girls who aren't in any of my classes. I think I like it, still not too sure though. I came back from School Camp yesterday. I was very, very scared. Although I've made some friends and am enjoying the subjects. (With the exception of Maths!) For the past 7 years I've been learning Italian as my second language, however this year I have begun French! I love learning about France but if you think I'm good at the accent, you're wrong. I have no idea how to do a French accent. Overall, High School's okay. I'm sure it will get better. 

-My Room

I have lived in the same house, same room for my whole life. When we moved in the walls were a yellow, I've never been to fond of. My family can't bring themselves to repaint the part of the house that is yellow. So I decided I would get rid of the yellow, just in my room. It was quite hard picking colours, I didn't know what would go with the yucky green skirting boards. (Seriously, who picked these colours?) In the end I decided to play it safe with a slightly creamy-white. I really like how it turned out. My room feels so much more alive and I am loving looking through what I will keep and not. I feel like I've moved into a new house. I'm still looking into find a rug because I would love some soft flooring. We've never had a carpet or rug so I think it will be a beautiful change. 

-Taizé Service

My father, brother and I caught up with a few members from the church I go to a few weeks ago. We went to an amazing restaurant before the service started. We didn't eat because we had dinner with my mother beforehand. When everyone was ready we walked over to a fantastic, huge church. Inside was just beautiful! I was lost for words. The windows had beautiful stained glass and the interior was astonishing. We sang many different songs, preyed and had a fun but relaxing time all round. Everyone received a candle when we walked in and my favourite part was when one of the brothers lit his candle from another big and beautiful candle. He passed it on to others unlit candles and it spread through the huge church so quick. It was magnificent seeing everyone with their flames. It lit up the church and our hope. 

Those are some events that have recently happened. Feel free to tell me what kind of posts you would like to see from me. If you made it through this whole post, I'd like to congratulate you! (Virtually shakes hand) Just a quick question before I end of this post, what have you been doing lately? For now, have a great week!

Claire x