Year 2019

WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN!
I have to be honest, this year I have felt, it went by so fast. One minute I was organizing a birthday party, the next I was already getting ready for Easter, then next was Christmas.

So now you ask, what happened during this year?
Well...I shall be typing out what I have seen that happened this year. We will be covering music, movies, deaths and what i have felt I have achieved this year.

First off, here a few highlights of the year:

Disney:

• Disney + was launched on 12 November 2019. This is a video on-demand streaming service that features Disney movies and new Disney TV shows.
• On May 1st, Walt Disney World celebrated the 30th anniversary of Disney's Hollywood Studios.
• Avengers: Endgame took over Avatar and has become the highest-grossing film of all time, and is also the second-highest-grossing film of all time in the US and Canada. This film currently has the highest weekend gross of 2019.
• An estimate budget of $356 million, Avengers: Endgame is one of the most expensive films to ever be made.
• The Original Six Avengers Cast members placed their handprints in cement at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
• 2019 marked the 25th anniversary of Walt Disney Pictures' movie "The Lion King.".
• The themed attraction Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge was officially in Disneyland on Mat 31 and in Walt Disney World on 29 August (On my birthday!).
• The IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth came to an end on September 30th, but there will be an all-new nighttime spectacular taking place in 2020.
• The Walt Disney Company's purchase of 21st Century Fox was made.
• Walt Disney Pictures become the first studio in history to pass $10 billion worldwide in box office.
• Disney is the first to have most of their films reach $1 billion for a single year at the worldwide box office.

Other Highlights:

• On April 6, the Gringotts bank opens to the public, and is included in the Studio Tour. This was a new expansion which included: A new lobby and cafe. The Studio Tour Hub now contains the Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon. There is a Chocolate Frog Cafe, and the Studio Cafe has been redesigned, complete with floating candles.
• Apple TV + was released on 1 November 2019.
• Conan O'Brien and TBS announced that the Conan TV show would be reformatted with a new setting that features a looser structure. The show has reformatted to a 30 minute show, instead of an hour.
• The American animated TV show, The Simpsons, was renewed for its 31 and 32 seasons, which totals the series episodes to 713. This makes this the 1st American primetime scripted series to pass 700 episodes.
• For the first time, the 91st Academy Awards had no host since the 1989 ceremony. 
• Netflix had 15 nominations at the 91st Academy Awards which made it the most ever for a studio owned by a streaming service.
• The 2019 Rugby World Cup was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 02 November, ending with South Africa winning the World Cup.
• The role-playing video game Pokemon Sword and Shield was released on November 15th. 
• For the 4th time in its history, the 71 Primetime Emmy Awards which aired on Fox, did not have a host for the show.
• Spider-Man: Far From Home became Sony Picture's highest-grossing film.
• The Pussycat Dolls announce a 2020 Reunion Tour.
• A dolphin by the name of PJ has become a permanent resident at Clearwater Marine Aquarium due to PJ having hearing loss and vision loss and she will need long term resident care.
• SPUR Steak Ranches releases a vegan/vegetarian option on their menu.
• The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to her first child with prince Harry. This is the couple's first child and the name of the child is Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

2019 Deaths:
This year, we unfortunately had to say goodbye to the following celebrities:
Allee Willis; Cameron Boyce; Luke Perry; Robert Forster; Linda Porter; Jo Andres; Pegi Young; Julie Adams; Lisa Sheridan; Elly Mayday plus many more.
I am terribly sorry for everyone's loss during this year. I know it is not easy to cope with the loss of someone, but hang in there. I know it is tough. I can tell you at least you have the memories of that person who passed away. The memories will stay forever.

A few people who sadly passed away in 2019...

Here are a few movies which were released this year:

Avengers: Endgame; The Lion King; Frozen 1; Aladdin; Spider-Man: Far From Home; Captain Marvel; Toy Story; Joker; Hobbs and Shaw; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; Knives Out; Glass; Isn't it Romantic; How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World; Dumbo; Shazam!; Pet Sematary; Hellboy; After; Pokemon Detective Pikachu; John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum; A Dog's Journey; Godzilla: King of Monsters; Dark Phoenix; The Secret Life of Pets 2; Men in Black; Murder Mystery; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; The Red Sea Diving Resort; The Angry Birds Movie 2; Angel Has Fallen; Hustlers; Downton Abbey; Rambo: Last Blood; The Addams Family; maleficent: Mistress of Evil; Doctor Sleep; Last Christmas; Charlie's Angels; Playmobi: The Movie; Jumanji: The Next Level; Bombshell; Cats; Little Women; Jojo Rabbit; IT Chapter Two; Abominable and The Aeronauts.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The film has grossed $362.2 million in the US and Canada, and $363 million in other countries, and for a worldwide total of $725.2 million.
Detective Pikachu: The film went to debut to $54.4 million, finishing 2nd at the weekend box office behind Avengers: Endgame.
Frozen 2: This film grossed $1. 220 billion worldwide and had the highest all-time worldwide opening for an animated film.This film is the 4th highest-grossing animated film o fall time and is the 3rd highest-grossing film for 2019.
Knives Out: As of December 31st in 2019, this film had grossed R110.3 million in the US and Canada and $104.6 million in other countries and for a worldwide of $214.9 million.  This film received a rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 402 reviews. This film recieved critical acclaim for its screenplay, acting and direction. This film also received 3 nominations at the 77th Golden Glove Awards. This was also one of the most anticipated movies of the year.
John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum: The film made R57 million which then became the 1st film to dethrone Avengers: Endgame at the box office. This film was the best opening of the series.
This film I am going to write about was really the film of the year:
Avengers: Endgame: This film surpassed Avatar's record of 47 days, for the fastest film to reach $2 billion worldwide int he course of 11 days. This film broke the Infinity War's record for the highest weekend debut in April,a superhero film and a 3D film of all time. This film was a worldwide opening of $1.2 billion which is now the biggest of all time.

A few movies released in 2019.

Here are a few music albums that were released this year:

New Year's Day-Unbreakable; Backstreet Boys-DNA; Bring Me the Horizon-Amo; American Authors-Seasons; Within Temptation-Resist; Ariana Grande-Thank U, Next; Avril Lavigne-Head Above Water; Meghan Trainor-The Love Train; BTS-Map of the Soul: Persona; Andy Black-The Ghost of Ohio; Norah Jones-Begin Again; Aly and AJ-Sanctuary; Miley Cyrus-She is Coming; Motionless in White-Disguise; Avicii-Tim; Ed Sherran-No. 6 Collaborations Project; Sum 41-Order in Decline; Slipknot-We are Not Your End; Taylor Swift-Love; Lana Del Rey-Norman Fucking Rockwell; Lindsey Stirling-Artemis; Sleeping with Sirens-How It Feels to Be Lost; Korn-The Nothing; Lacuna Coil-Black Anima; Liam Payne-LP1; Harry Styles-Fine Line and Iggy Azalea. Plus many more albums released this year.

A few music albums released in 2019.

New Year's Day released 3 new music videos from their new album "Unbreakable" this year. Here is the music video for "Come for Me":

Lindsey Stirling released a music video off the album "Artemis":
Artemis:


Lacuna Coil released about 2 music videos off their new album, here is one of the music videos, "Reckless":


Avril Lavigne released a new album this year, along with a new music video:
Head Above Water:


Within Temptation released w new music titled "Supernova" off their album "Resist":

On a more personal note:
This year, I decided that there was a project I have been wanting to do for a very long time, but I kept on putting it off. So this year, I decided to go ahead with this project and I really hope you will be happy to see what the outcome is.

Thinking back to the beginning of this year, I decided to take a different approach to fitness. This year, I have been walking a lot more than what I used to. I aim to get 10K steps each day. I have also reduced my HIIT training and have adapted to more low impact exercises.

The fitness program I am following is Rachael Attard. I have found that her workouts work for me. Her program is low impact, with a few HIIT training workouts. Since I started my fitness journey I have been struggling with my body. Even though the other fitness programs work, they didn't seem to work for me. Hence why I decided this year I am taking a new approach to fitness. The result? I am seeing that this type of exercising seems to work for me. I do not perform any exercises which are heavy on my legs - such as squat jumps, box jumps and lunge jumps. I am also trying to eat healthier than what I was before. I haven't been making smoothie bowls this year because I did bloat after a while whenever I had smoothie bowls. So I needed to cut down on that. What I have been trying to do is find quick and easy healthy recipes as I would like to still share my journey with you all.
You can take a test to see which body type you are on her website. It's free and it will not take long to fill out.
Here is Rachael Attard's website:
https://www.rachaelattard.com/

I still do follow Lucy Wyndham-Reed's exercises and she is still a huge inspirations for me. I still follow Cara Collective as well as she inspires me too. A new fitness trainer I have started to follow this year is Dana Landgren. Her workouts she posts on her Instagram page are all pelvic-floor friendly and are low impact. Plus there is a workout for everyone.
Here is the link to her Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/danalandgren/


I am still a vegetarian. This would be the 5th year I am a vegetarian. Back when I became vegetarian I thought it would take a while to say to everyone "I have been a vegetarian for XX amounts of years.", now it has been 5 years and I do feel great that I am helping animals. Honestly, it is a choice I have made and no one has forced me to choose what I can and cannot eat. I have also reduced my use of plastic as this year more and more people are aware that plastic is not a good thing to have. Single use plastic is not what we need and many restaurants have swapped their single use plastic with plastic free alternatives.

This year I had the opportunity to run my own competition and it was a success. I personally must thank Eat naked Super Nude Foods for the absolutely amazing opportunity to let me run a competition. I am forever grateful. If you'd like to know more about Eat naked, here is their website:
https://www.eatnaked.co.za/
Here is the post:

View this post on Instagram

🍯 GIVEAWAY TIME 🍯 Hello to all you absolutely lovely people!! 🙋🏼‍♀️ It has finally come, my very first competition I am holding! 🙌🏻🙌🏻 To celebrate 🎊 I have teamed up with @eatnakednudefood and I will be giving away not one, but THREE lunchboxes filled with Eat Naked goodies 😋 So we will be having 3 winners. You may have seen my recent posts about lunchbox ideas which feature Eat Naked’s lunchbox. Now you have a chance of winning one too ☀️. . What do you win? ⭐️ Eat Naked Peanut Butter Cups. ⭐️ Roasted and Salted Macadamia nuts & Cranberries. ⭐️ Raw Honey 🍯. ⭐️ Two little travel size natural peanut butter. . Here is how to enter: 🍯 Like this post. 🍯 Follow both me @andriamackinnon and @eatnakednudefood - Will be checking. 🍯 Comment below which Eat Naked product you would add to your lunchbox. 🍯 Tag two friends who love this product. That’s it! BONUS points if you add this post to your Insta Story. Don’t forget to tag Eat Naked and I in the story. . Competition ends next week Tuesday, so happy entering! I cannot wait to see what you all have to say! 😁 . Rules: Three winners will be randomly selected. You must be based in South Africa. Winners need to be able to collect their prize from PostNet. This giveaway is not endorsed by Instagram or any of its affiliates. . . #competition #giveaway #giveawaycontest #eatnaked #nudefood #nomnom #delicious #superfood #healthylifestyle #rawfood #rawhoney #lunchbox #competitontime #southafrica #naturalpeanutbutter #peanutbuttercups #yummy #yumminess #healthygiveaway #healthysnacks #healthyeating #happytuesday

A post shared by Andria 🍒🌸🐾🤸🏼‍♀️ (@andriamackinnon) on Mar 27, 2019 at 4:00am PDT

This year, I finally posted more blogs than I have in the previous years. I know it is not a lot of blog posts, but it is a start. I have been posting motivation for the week and motivation I have found inspiring. I will try and write more blogs next year. If you have any suggestions please let me know.


HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!
HAPPY 2020!!

Year 2016

Hello to every single person all around the world! It is the end of 2016 which just went by so quickly. I can still remember gathering Easter presents way back in March, and then also seeing the movie Allegiant as well with my best friend Erin. This year was a good year, and had great beginning as well, but was very sad at the end of this year...
Now to get on with business, here are some highlights that happened during the course of this year:

• The brand new app Pokemon GO was released this year, and was a huge success. People can now get the app on their phone, go outside and walk around to either hatch an egg they received from a PokeStop, or battle at a Gym, or walk with a Pokemon and do so much more on the app. People who always watched the anime show and played the Pokemon trading card game, can now finally be their own trainer and go out and be the very best...like no one ever was! (I am one of them!).
• The Pokemon Sun and Moon game was released in November 2016, and this game is set in the Alola region.
• Donald Trump won the US Presidential Election this year.
• ABC Family officially changed their name to FreeForm in January this year.
• The two-part play titled "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was released as a book for Harry Potter fans to read in July this year. This book seemed to be one of the highly anticipated books to read this year.
• In September, Disney announced that the popular ride titled "The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror" will have it's last day in January 2017, and will be replaced with a "Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: BREAKOUT" ride in summer 2017.
• Captain America: Civil War was a critical and a commercial success, grossing over $1 billion, which made this film the highest grossing film for 2016, as well making this film the 12th highest grossing film of all time. This film also is the 4th highest grossing superhero film of all time.
• In March, a suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Lqbal Park, Lahore killed 75 people and injured about 340 others with a militant Sunni Islamic organisation, claiming responsibility for targeting Christians celebrating Easter.
• In June, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union.
• In August, the 2016 Summer Olympics was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• The terrible news of a gorilla by the name of Harambe was fatally shot in an attempt to protect a 4 year old boy, who had fallen 12 feet into the enclosure of Harambe.
• Clearwater Marine Aquarium released 29 sea turtles in 2016.
• Dunkin Donuts opened for the first time in South Africa.
• Starbucks opened in South Africa for the first time.
• This year, there was a reboot of the well-known Cartoon Network series, The Powerpuff Girls. To celebrate the reboot, there was an online app that allowed you to customize your very own Powerpuff girl - or boy - on the Internet and share your avatar with your friends or on social media.
• Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar Award for Best Actor.

2016 Deaths:
Sadly, this year seemed to be the year of quite a few deaths. All these talented and outstanding people passed away this year. Here are some of the people who sadly passed away this year:
David Bowie; Curtis Hanson; Harper Lee; Garry Shandling; Ken Howard; Anton Yelchin; Alan Rickman; Leonard Cohen; Garry Marshall; Doris Roberts; Prince; Robert Vaughn; Kenny Baker; Gene Wilder; George Michael; Carry Fisher and Carrie's mother, Debbie Reynolds.
It is tragic to hear and see such fantastic actors/writers/singers pass away...it is truly sad, and my heart goes out to every single one of these talented people's family and friends. I am truly sorry for your loss.

A few of the talented actors/singers/writers who passed away in 2016.

This year, a good couple of movies were released this year that were all fantastic to see, and some of the movies you had to have watched on the big screen in 3D. Here are some of the movies that were released this year:

Finding Dory; Suicide Squad; Indignation; Alice Through the Looking Glass; Pete's Dragon; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Fallen; 31; The Secret Life of Pets; Allegiant; Deadpool; X-Men: Apocalypse; The Jungle Book; Zootopia; Captain America: Civil War; Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice; Doctor Strange; The Legend of Tarzan: Passengers; The BFG; Ghostbusters; Miss Peregrine's Home for the Peculiar Children; Moana; Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them; Independence Day: Resurgence; Ice Age: Collision Course; Max Steel; Jason Bourne; Sing; The Magnificent Seven; Warcraft; Storks; Angry Birds; Bad Moms; Trolls; Now You See Me 2, and the list does go on and on.
The Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed $166 million in the USA and in Canada on this movie's opening weekend, which is the 8th biggest opening of all time, which is ahead of the movie The Dark Knight Rises at $160 million. The film had a worldwide opening of the amount $422.5 million, which the film also stands as the 2nd biggest for Warner Bros. and the 4th biggest of all time. This film also had an IMAX opening weekend of $36 million,which is the 3rd biggest openings ever, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World.
Suicide Squad was a box office success, grossing at $325.1 million in Northern America and a worldwide total of $745.6 million, against a budget of $175 million. Despite the negative critical reception and a lower-than-expected box office, the film was a highly anticipated movie by the audience (I was one of them!). Margot Robbie's performance as the character Harley Quinn, was praised and was a star-making performance, with critics eager to see more of her character in future films. The film grossed $745 million worldwide, which made this the 9th highest grossing film for 2016.
Finding Dory was a critical and a commercial success, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making this film the 2nd highest grossing film for 2016, and the 4th highest grossing animated film of all time. This film also became the 1st Pixar film to cross this worldwide mark since Toy Story, which was released in 2010. This film also became the highest grossing animated film opening of all time in North America.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them received positive reviews from critics, and grossed $747 million worldwide, making this film the 8th highest grossing film for 2016. This film was also considered as one of the most highly anticipated films for 2016. The film worldwide, grossed $219.9 million during the opening weekend of this film.
As of December, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had grossed $358.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $295.2 million in other countries for the worldwide total of the amount $653.9 million.

Some of the movies released during 2016.

Also, a good couple of music albums where also released this year, here they are:

David Bowie-Blackstar; Lacuna Coil-Delirium; Rachel Platten-Wildfire; Amaranthe - Maximalism; Skillet-Unleashed; Tarja-The Shadow Self; Panic! at the Disco-Death of a Bachlor; Charlie Puth-NineTrack Mind; Elton John-Wonderful Crazy Night; Daughtry-It's Not Over...The Hits So Far; Ronan Keating-Time of My Life; Simple Plan-Taking One for the Team; Anthrax-For All Kings; Charli XCX-Vroom Vroom; Asking Alexandria-The Black; Babymetal-Metal Resistance; Stitched Up Heart-Never Alone; Nick Jonas-Last year Was Complicated; Locnville-Taste The Weekend; Billy Talent-Afraid of Heights; Britney Spears-Glory; Lindsey Stirling-Brave Enough; Soilwork-Death Resonance; Epica-The Holographic Principle;  Idina Menzel-idina.; The Agonist-Five; Korn-The Serenity of Suffering; Lady Gaga-Joanne; Michael Buble-Nobody but Me; Bridgit Mendler- Nemesis; Metallica-Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, and the list goes on and on.
All these artists I have mentioned are all super talented. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you listen to these artists mentioned, as their music is incredibly amazing!

Some of the music albums released in 2016.

I know this band may not have released an album this year, but the band Bullet for my Valentine released an incredibly fantastic single out this year titled "Don't Need You", and this song is really a good listen.

Here is the video to their official music video for the song below:


Another band, Motionless in White, released a brand new single titled "570", which was also released for a music video, which you can view below:


The Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil released their new album this year "Delirium", as well as released a new music video titled "Delirium", and you can view the music video below:


Lacuna Coil also released a Christmas song titled "Naughty Christmas" which was released in December this year, and the band also released a lyrics video for the song. You can check out the lyric video below:


The duo Locnville released their album "Taste the Weekend" in June this year. They have released a music video titled "Cold Shoulder", which you can view below:


Amaranthe released their new album titled "Maximalism" in October this year. In the same month, the band also released a music video titled "That Song" which can be viewed below:


The Christian rock band, Skillet, has released a new album In August, as well as a music video titled "Feel Invincible", which you can view below:


On a more personal note:
This year, I decided to do something with my body and instead of having mostly, sugary and fatty foods this year, I have decided to become a lot more healthier and started doing exercises. I have become a lot more health conscious.This year, I decided I needed to be more healthier, and taking extra care of what I put into my body. There is the old saying "What you put in is what you will get out", and the other saying "You are what you eat". At first, I didn't know where to begin, what workouts to do, what I was capable of. I literally had no idea what to do first. The day I decided to get more fit and healthy, my mother told me about a lady who has written books about workouts and nutrition, and told me this lady had started a group, in April, called "Lucy's Squad", where you can follow 4 minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts everyday. This lady's name is Lucy Wyndham-Read, who is a YouTube trainer, and who posts real-time videos on YouTube with workouts for the "Lucy's Squad" group to do. At first I was a bit uncomfortable doing these workouts, but after about a month or so, I started to actually enjoy these workouts, and everyday I looked forward to a new workout all the time- and I still do! The truth is, I started in May with Lucy Wyndham-Read's 100 rep workouts, and after this challenge, I started taking on more challenges as the days went by. One thing I noticed is that whenever you start to do workouts, take a Before and After picture, to help you. You do not need to show anyone your photos if you don't wish to, it is simply for your own benefit, and to see how far you have come since you started your fitness journey.What is so amazing about Lucy Wyndham-Read's videos is that you can do them absolutely anywhere - no gym required! I considered maybe going to a gym, but it turns out you don't really need a gym to do Lucy's workouts. I am also proud to be apart of "Lucy's Squad" as I have been featured in 2 of Lucy Wyndham-Read's YouTube videos, and that is a goal achieved for me! In November, there were workout challenges, but Lucy Wyndham-Read also posted about eating clean (This is when you eat whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy proteins and fats). When I became a vegetarian, I taught myself to read labels. This is a great tool to use because it is always good to read the food labels as you can see what you are consuming into your body. Lucy Wyndham-Read also helped me to enter a competition called "USN Face of Fitness". Although I didn't make it to the top 32, that didn't put me down or make me feel upset. This actually motivated me more to keep staying as fit and as healthy as I can be. I also go running at least once a week, and Lucy Wyndham-Read also helped me with this as well as I feel more confident now to go out into the outdoors and go walking/running. Walking/running can help you a lot and what is nice is when you go in the outdoors, you can have a beautiful scenery to look at. I workout 5 days a week and the 6th day is a walking/running day.
Lucy Wyndham-Read is a fitness expert and is Ex-Army, and has more than 20 years experience in health and in fitness.
Another person I have discovered who has a blog about nutrition and wellness is Caralishious. Caralishious is an entrepreneur and wellness consultant, and a nutrition blogger who dedicates to balanced living through the nourishment of the mind and the body. Caralishious has blogs that show you how to optimise your health and well being with her delicious recipes and her blogs about how to practise self love toward yourself, like how to love yourself for who you are and build a good self-esteem for yourself. I discovered Caralishious when I purchased the ice-cream, and I discovered this ice-cream was actually healthy for you and is completely vegan. I then went onto Caralishious website and I spent quite a while reading her blogs about health and how to build a good self-esteem. The recipe's on Caralishious website are also healthy for you as you use organic products and whole foods to make the meal dishes. There are recipes for dinner, lunch and breakfast time, as well as if you are on-the-go and need to make something quickly. What is great about these recipes is you know it is healthy for you and you don't need to feel guilty eating these food dishes as they will be fuel for your body, and I am sure your body will be happy to have these foods.

Left: Caralishious, a wellness consultant and entrepreneur.
Right: Lucy Wyndham-Read, Ex-Army, YouTube trainer and a fitness coach.

The products I have used that have helped me stay fit and healthy is USN products - mostly the protein shakes - and Herbex products. Herbex is a definite must look at if you want loose weight. USN products, to me, are more for body building, but the products do work. Herbex products is more natural products as some of their products contain a formulation of 4 herbs which help assist with weight-loss, increasing your metabolism and burn calories. I have used the USN Phedra Cut Lipo XT, but it didn't work out for me, I use Herbex products now, and I feel it has helped me with weight-loss and has helped me keep fit. I also mostly drink water nowadays - plus the Herbex fat burn concentrate drink - and I stay away from the soda drinks and fruit juices when I can as they do contain sugar.

Photos of me during my progress of getting into a healthier lifestyle in 2016.

Last year, I was told that I can adopt a cat, and I have the most beautiful and precious kitty cat in the world! Her is name is Eevee. I decided on this name because it fit her perfectly. She is such a beautiful cat and I love her so much! We also welcomed a new dog to our family, and he is...Emmet the pug! We also have another dog by the name of Leo who is an awesome dog as well! Our animals really are good animals, maybe a bit energetic at times, but they are all good animals.

Left: My beautiful cat Eevee.
Middle: Emmet the pug!
Right: Leo.

This year marks 3 years being a vegetarian for me, and it feels good! I consider myself 85% vegan as the foods I make myself are vegan, it is only when I visit people's houses that I may eat vegetarian food there. Also, the restaurants I go to cater more for vegetarians than vegans, but I do hope all the restaurants will cater for vegan people soon.

What annoys me though with regard to this lifestyle, is that sometimes on restaurant menu's or at some event, there is absolutely - and I mean absolutely - nothing for people who don't eat meat. This isn't good as some people don't want animal meat, or someone is allergic to dairy, and at these events or restaurants, they have nothing for the people with food allergies. This doesn't happen often, but at some places this does happen, and it does annoy me.
One other thing while on this subject, it is always good to help the environment, regardless if you are a vegetarian/pescatarian/vegan or whatever you are. There is indeed, only so much one person can do to help the environment and animals. A person cannot do absolutely everything to help the environment, but that person is doing something by maybe not using a car to go to work, or by not consuming any animal products, or by being an activist. These are all great things to do, and keep doing them if it makes you happy, but remember...there is only so much one person can do to help out.
Lastly, if you are wanting to go vegan, then you should maybe take on the Veganuary challenge in January where you are completely vegan for the whole month of January. It is amazing to do as you can explore with food and see what meals you can make up. You can also enjoy vegan ice cream for the summer times. Fry's Food has recently released quite a few new flavors of vegan ice cream. Another person who has created a healthy and vegan ice cream is Caralishious. Her ice creams tastes super delicious and they are healthy for you as well.

This year I also read all 6 books of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, as well as the whole trilogy of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, plus the book Four: A Divergent Collection. All I can say is...I did not know what I was missing out on. These books were highly addictive, and I could not put these book down! I had to know what happened right up until the end. It was like when I read the Harry Potter books. It is un-put-downable - if that is even a word. After I heard about the movie Allegiant and that it was out in cinemas, I decided to start reading Divergent, the first book, and I absolutely loved the book. It took me not even a week before I finished this book, and then it was onto the 2nd book Insurgent, and then finally, Allegiant. The 3rd book was sad at the end, and I did cry a little, but I did enjoy these books, they were definitely a good read. I also went onto reading Four: A Divergent Collection book, and even this book I just couldn't put down. My absolute favourite Divergent series books had to be both Insurgent, as well as Allegiant. My favourite book from the Mortal Instruments had to be the 6th book, City of Heavenly Fire. I will definite be re-reading these books over and over again. The same goes for the Harry Potter books as well. I am glad to have read all these books, and I still have to finish the Peary Jackson books plus all of Cassandra Clare's other books, but it will be done.

Left: Me by the Allegiant poster, about to go watch the movie. (Photo by Erin Kennedy).
Middle: My two favourite Divergent series books, Insurgent and Allegiant. (Photos by Erin Kennedy).
Right: Me with my favourite Mortal Instruments book, City of Heavenly Fire.

For those of you who would like to check out Lucy Wyndham-Read's YouTube channel, as well as her social media pages, you can check them out below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LWRFitnessChannel
Official website: http://www.lwrfitness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LWRFitness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucyWyndhamRead
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucywyndhamread
And for those who would like to view Caralishious website, as well as her social media pages, you can check them all out below:
Official website: http://www.caralishious.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caralishious/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/caralishious
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caralishious

For those of you who would like to know more about Bullet for my Valentine, Lacuna Coil, Motionless in White, Skillet, Locnville and Amaranthe, you can check out their social media pages:
Bullet for my Valentine:
Official Website: http://www.bulletformyvalentine.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BulletForMyValentine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfmvofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfmvofficial/
Lacuna Coil:
Official website: http://www.lacunacoil.it/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lacunacoil/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lacuna_coil
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacunacoilofficial/
Motionless in White:
Official website: http://motionlessinwhite.net/?frontpage=true
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motionlessinwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MIWband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miwband/
Skillet:
Official website: http://www.skillet.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillet/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skilletmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skilletmusic
Locnville:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Locnville/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Locnville
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/locnville
Amaranthe:
Official website: http://amaranthe.se/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmarantheBand/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amaranthemetal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amarantheofficial

For those wanting to know about Herbex, you can check out their website below. Herbex also has amazing workout routine's to follow and they do indeed have amazing products to choose from,a nd so much more on their website:
Official website: http://www.herbexhealth.com/
Here are their social media pages as well below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herbex1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/herbexhealth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herbexhealth

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this blog! I do promise I will try as much as I can to post more blogs next year and try to work more on my blogs next year!
2017, we are all ready for you, and we cannot wait to see what the year hold for us! I am pledging to be a lot more healthier and to do a lot of workouts I really enjoy doing! I just know 2017 is going to be THE YEAR I will get a whole lot more fitter, stronger, and healthier! Bring it on 2017!
Thank you everyone!
Have an amazing New Year!!!

Goodbye 2016! I will definitely be doing a lot of workouts and being as healthy as I can be!
A photo of me with my Body Toning for women book by Lucy Wyndham-Read.

Year 2015

Hello to everyone from around the world! We are at the end of 2015, and my goodness! What a year it has been for everyone! There were of cause happy times, as well as sad times and also those frustrating times, but that is what makes it such a good year!

Now to get on with business, here are some highlights of what happened during 2015 (some highlights are grouped to show what happened at that time of the year):

• It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to these outstanding and talented people: Scott Weiland, Kevin Corcoran, Christopher Lee and Lemmy.
• Frozen Fever released this year which premiered before the movie Cinderella.
• StarBucks brought out a new flavour for the season fall called Toasted Graham Latte for the first time in years.
• Zayn Malik left One Direction and One Direction announced they are taking an extended hiatus which will start in March 2016 and will last for about 2 years.
• Clearwater Marine Aquarium rehabilitated over 100 animals this year.
• Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the Golden Globe Awards for the final time this year.
• US Supreme Court ruled gay marriage is legal in all 50 states of the USA.
• SeaWorld CEO announces plan to end orca controversial shows at the San Diego park by 2017, after the protests that began after the release of the documentary Blackfish.
• As of January 2016, ABC Family will be renamed to Freeform.
• In June 2015, it was announced that there would be a two-part play titled “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, and the play would premiere in the summer of 2016 at London’s Palace Theatre. J.K. Rowling stated though, that this play would not be a prequel. In October 2015, it was confirmed the play would be set 19 years after the conclusion of the 7^th novel “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. The actors who would play the main characters are the following: Jamie Paker plays Harry Potter; Noma Dumezweni plays Hermione Granger and Paul Thornley plays Ron Weasley.
• The US is upgrading the legal status of lions that stop the hunters from transporting any lion body parts back home after the hunter’s safari trips. 
• Cecil the lion was sadly shot by a Walter Palmer, who is an American big-game hunter.
• On November 13th 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks occurred in Paris. There were 3 suicide bombers who struck near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, which followed by suicide bombings and mass shooting at cafès, restaurants and a concert hall.

 Walt Disney World:

• Downtown Disney was renamed to Disney Springs.
• A new bakery named Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC opened in Disney Springs. This bakery serves foods that are gluten free and vegan. 
• Walt Disney World has installed new metal detectors due to the Department of Homeland Security identified "public events or places" as potential terrorist targets in a National Terrosim Advisory System bulletin.

D23 Expo 2015:

• The D23 Expo announced that Walt Disney World plans for an 11-acre Toy Story land which will include 2 new attractions and 1 expanded favourite in the adventurous outdoors of Andy’s backyard at the theme park Hollywood Studios.
• Bob Iger announced that a brand new 14-acre land themed Star Wars will be added to Disneyland, as well as Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios.
• Director Jon Favreau introduced a few of the confirmed actors for Disney’s future film, The Jungle Book, which will premier in April 2016. The actors are: Ben Kingley, Lupita Nyong’o, and 11-year-old Neel Sethi. Jon Favreau also introduced some footage from the film, which includes Baloo the bear (who is voiced by Bill Murray).
• It was announced that an upcoming night-time show titled “Rivers of Light” will be held in Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. Another expansion plan will be Pandora – The World of Avatar and a nocturnal version of Kilimanjaro Safaris.
• Toy Story 4 was announced and will be aimed to be released in June 2017.
• It was announced that a new animated movie titled Zootopia will be released in March 2016. A clip from the film was also shown at D23 Expo. 

Star Wars:

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out 10 years after the release of the franchise’s last major instalment. The movie reached $1 billion 12 days after the global release, which was one day earlier than the previous record holder – Jurassic World. The movie has made $544.5 million in the US. 10 Days after the movie release, it became the 4^th highest-grossing film for 2015, and also the 9^th highest-grossing film of all time. The movie has broken many box office records which include the highest – grossing worldwide opening of all time, and the fastest film to reach $1 billion.

There were also numerous movies which were released during the course of this year. Here are some of the movies that were released this year, and some of these movies were also nominated for awards: Minions; Ant-Man; Inside Out; Avengers: Age of Ultron; Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Jurassic World; Furious 7; The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay: Part 2; The Good Dinosaur; Pan; Spectre; The Boy Next Door; Shaun the Sheep movie; Jupiter Ascending; The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water; Mr. Holmes; Insurgent; Fifty Shades of Grey; Cinderella; The Duff; Pitch Perfect 2; Hot Pursuit; Mad Max: Fury Road; Tomorrowland; Spy; The Man from U.N.C.L.E; San Andreas; Entourage; Ted 2; Magic Mike XXL; Max; Smosh: The Movie; Pixels; Paper Towns; Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation; Vacation; Fantastic Four; Steve Jobs; Legend; The Martian; The Intern; Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials; Hotel Transylvania 2; Goosebumps; The Peanuts Movie; In the Heart of the Sea; Sisters; Brooklyn; Trainwreck; Victor Frankenstein; Home; The Age of Adaline and The Little Prince, and the list goes on and on...and on. All of these movies were fantastic to watch. There were laughter, some tears and most of all...happiness in these movies. It is amazing how one movie could have so many emotions in the story.

The Disney movie Cinderella premiered in theatres in March 2015. The film grossed $542 million worldwide, and became Branagh’s highest grossing film.

The Jurassic World film had a grossing of $500 million worldwide and had a record breaking opening weekend. The film also generated $1.6 billion in box office revenue, and is the 3^rd highest-grossing film of all time, and the film is the highest-grossing film for 2015.

The movie Goosebumps grossed $78.6 million in North America as of 20^th December, and the movie received generally positive reviews from critics. The movie also grossed over $119 million on a $58 million budget.

Movies released in 2015.

A good couple of music albums were released during the course of this year. The artists name will be written, along with the title of their albums that were released this year. Here are the following albums: Butcher Babies – Take It Like A Man; Papa Roach – F.E.A.R. (Fear Everything and Rise); Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors; All That Remains – The Order of Things; Kelly Clarkson – Piece by Piece; Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful; Halestorm – Into the Wild Life; KAMELOT – Haven; Hilary Duff – Breathe In. Breathe Out; Breaking Benjamin – Dark Before Dawn; Bullet for My Valentine – Venom; Miley Cyrus – Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz; New Years Day - Malevolence; Demi Lovato – Confident; The Agonist - Eye of Providence; 5 Seconds of Summer – Sounds Good Feels Good; Carrie Underwood – Storyteller; David Garrett – Explosive; Ellie Goulding – Delirium; Adele – 25 and Ariana Grande – Christmas & Chill and many more albums released this year.

All these music artists I mentioned are all super talented and their music is amazing to listen to. These artists are highly recommended as their voices are really talented. Most of these music artists mentioned above are songwriters as well, and they have written such emotional songs that make you either happy or make you feel that sad emotion. Their music is also very powerful.

Music albums released in 2015.

The Butcher Babies band released their new album “Take It Like A Man” in August this year. The band has currently released 2 music videos so far, and they are “Monsters Ball” and “Igniter”. The band has also released an official album stream which consists of each song from their new album.

You can view their music videos here:

 Monster's Ball:
 
Igniter:
 

Official Album Stream: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWT5waYZYnkeiqtrgWwy-Q3WLThVO-hY

Bullet for My Valentine released their 5^th studio album “Venom” this year. This was the first album by the band since the departure of bassist player Jason James, which was announced in February 2015. It was announced in May 2015, that Jamie Mathias would be replaced as the new bassist player. The band has released 3 singles which are “No Way Out”, “You Want a Battle? (Here’s a War)” and “Army of Noise”. There have also been 2 music videos off the new album titled “You Want a Battle? (Here’s a War)” and “Venom”.

You can view their music videos here:

You Want a Battle? (Here’s a War):

 

Venom:

 

The German pop and crossover violinist David Garret released his new album this year, which is titled “Explosive”. Some the songs on this album were written by David Garrett himself, such as “Adventure Island”, “Explosive” and “Serenity” feat. Nicole Scherzinger. The song titled “Adventure Island” was inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean music, and the song titled “Serenity” was inspired by Disney music. There has also been a music video for “Explosive”.

You can view the music video here: 

Explosive:

 

On a more personal note: 

This year, for me, has definitely been a great year. I do, of cause, miss going to Walt Disney World like I did last year, but I know I will definitely go again soon. I think the one issue most people need to do is save money. Saving money may not look good now, but in the long run when you do save money, it will help you so much. Also look at it this way, in the long run, you would have so much money saved and you can spend it on anything you want, even if you fill a Coco-Cola tin with R2. You’ll still have that much money for yourself.

I also met quite a few celebrities this year. Most of the celebrities I met were at KDay (a music festival which is held in the summer, and is hosted by the radio show KFM). At KDay, I did get to see celebrities I have met time and time again, such as the KFM radio hosts, but I unfortunately did not get to see all of the radio hosts this year at KDay. I know I did not write about KDay this year, but I will explain to you exactly why I did not write a blog about KDay, and what I am about to write will be a balance between positive and negative insight: KDay, this year, was held at Newlands Rugby Field. KDay, as usual, is always a fantastic music festival where you do get the opportunity to meet the music artists who perform on this day, but only after their live performances. The radio hosts where walking around the field, so if you bumped into them, you could possibly have your photo taken with them. The location for KDay this year wasn’t so bad, but I would say the field was much smaller than the other venues where KDay was located. The location where you went to meet the music artists was at the Musica stand, and when the music artists came out to meet their fans, they only had 10 – 15 minutes to sign posters, CD albums and t-shirts. So when you, the fan went to meet the music artists, you literally had about 10 seconds (if you were lucky) to meet the music artists, and at times, the Musica staff were a bit mean to the fans as my one friend did say she wanted a photo with some of the music artists, but was pushed aside and couldn’t get the photo she wanted, so as I said, at times during the course of meeting the music artists, the Musica staff were a bit mean to the fans. KDay was fantastic because you got to meet music artists, see their live performances, and also buy their music albums. The not-so-good part of KDay was that the entrance gates were meant to open at a certain time, but only opened after about 30 – 45 minutes; there weren’t much food choices, especially for vegans/vegetarians, and the fans who met the music artists did not have much time to meet the music artists. One more not-so-good part of KDay with regard to meeting the music artists was when the music artists finished their live performance, the people would have to wait in such a long queue, and if they wanted to meet all the music artists, they would have to be in the queue for the whole day. Overall though, KDay was a great day out: the sun was shining bright, and there was music that the fans loved and all danced to.

This is why I did not write about KDay as I felt I had too many negative views on this day.

This year also marks the second year that I am a vegetarian, however, I have mostly been living a vegan lifestyle and I have not been eating egg products, but I do still have dairy products. I am aware that the dairy and egg industry are cruel, I am trying as much as I can to refrain from using any milk or egg products. I would myself, rate that I am 80% - 85% vegan.

I actually found out this year that there is a website called Veganuary, and you can sign up on their website and go vegan for the whole of January. This is a great way to start your year off by being a vegan, even if that means you are vegan just for January, and NO! It is not expensive to be a vegan. I would recommend everyone to sign up, and take on the Veganuary challenge. The Veganuary website also helps you find the foods and milk alternative drinks you could have, as well as explain what happens in each industry (meat, milk, egg, as well as myths etc.). Veganuary is your number one source in finding out what happens to animals, and what you can do to stop the animal cruelty.

Something I learnt when I went off meats: I have learnt that you just look around in your house to see what you have, that is vegan of cause, and then you put what food you have together and there you go, a vegan dish (even if the dish is unusual). I have seen meat is much more expensive, an example would be that the cost of 2 pork chops, could buy you 2 – 3 packets of apples, maybe even 4 packets of apples. I believe that it is way more expensive to buy meats than it is to buy vegetables.

This year was also the very first time I got my first tattoo. I chose to have a Disney Tattoo as I will always and forever remain a Disney fan. Ever since I can remember, I was brought up watching Disney movies, owning Disney toys and even started playing Disney games. Walt Disney had a dream, and he made his dream come true, and he has inspired millions of people around the world, and I am one of them. I believe that I have a dream that will come true if I pursue it and make the dream happen.

Photo of my Disney tattoo.
Picture taken by Maggie Kruger Photography.

The new music artists I have been listening to, mainly this year, has been the Butcher Babies. My previous blog post before this one is all about the Butcher Babies, and I have also written about their new album “Take It Like A Man” which was released this year. I have mentioned that the Butcher Babies blog is highly detailed as the blog contains every possible bit of information about the band. I wanted to include as much information as I can. The Butcher Babies are seriously a very good band.

I can say this to all of you: My biggest role models for this year have to be Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey. By watching their interviews, seeing why they write their lyrics the way they do, the meaning behind their songs and seeing how loyal they are to their fans, both Heidi and Carla are amazing people. Heidi and Carla’s stage outfits when they are performing live are very inspirational, and unique. I don’t know if these ladies realize how much they have inspired their fans to achieve their own goals. These ladies are fantastic role models and what I find inspiring is that they take time out of their busy schedule and interact with their fans, where it be at a live performance show or on social media such as Instagram. Both Heidi and Carla are super inspirational and have given their fans inspirational words said by them both, to help their fans follow their own dreams.

On the sad side of this year, it was with great sadness that my family had to say goodbye to our dog Jessie, who has been with us for over 10 years! He was such a clever dog and was one of the best dogs my family owned, but unfortunately, he had to go up to dog heaven. I can still remember when I first found out we have a new dog, and it was when I got into the car and saw this happy face behind me, licking me and wagging his tail. We will miss you Jessie!

Picture Jessie our dog.

For those of you who would like to know more about Veganuary, you can check out their website, as well as their social media sites here: 

Website: http://www.veganuary.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Veganuary

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreVeganuary

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareveganuary/  

Do not forget to sign up to Veganuary. If you didn’t sign up to take on the Veganuary challenge in January 2016, there is always January in 2017.

Go vegan for January and take the Veganuary challenge.

If you would like to more about Bullet for My Valentine and David Garrett, you can check out their website, as well as their social media sites here:

Bullet for My Valentine:

Website: https://www.bulletformyvalentine.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BulletForMyValentine

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfmvofficial

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfmvofficial/

David Garrett:

Website: http://www.david-garrett.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidgarrettofficial/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/david_garrett

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidgarrettinsta/

I also had over 2000 page views on my blog page in July this year!! That is such a huge deal and means so much to me!! Thank you everyone who has and will continue to view my blogs! I really thank you enough! This was definitely one of the happiest moments in my life, to see so many people viewing my blogs! Thank you!

Overall, this year has been a blast!

I do hope everyone else has had a fantastic year and that you have New Year Resolution’s for 2016!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions would be to blog a lot more, and maybe put my blog into parts, as they seem to always be quite long.

I also want to leave you with a few tips for next year:

Live your own life, be yourself, do not get influenced by things you would never do, do not worry about unimportant issues and most of all, be the person you want to be! Never ever change who you are!

Thank you everyone for reading my blog! It is always and will forever be appreciated!

Have an amazing and joyful 2016!

Goodbye 2015! Was AWESOME! Hello 2016!! I am ready for you!!!
Picture taken by Maggie Kruger Photography.