Hey so about a month ago I posted my first post describing what I was trying to achieve. Just a heads up that if you haven't read that post then very little out of this is going to make any sense. The question is, how did I get on. Well... let me just run you through this...
So Google turned down my AdSense application :( This was for 2 reasons which I could have found out a lot sooner if I'd read more into it but there you go. Firstly, I'm not 18 and secondly, there isn't enough content on my blog yet for them to determine what adverts should be shown. So it's safe to say that didn't work. However, as I mentioned (at least I think I did) I want to continue this blog anyway and it doesn't mean I can't make money from this anyway at a later date.
So I went about other avenues. Turns out - unsurprisingly - that making money online is either difficult or seriously slow. I was running out of options and so decided to turn to something I'd had on standby for a little while and that was Polymer Jewellery. I decided that getting my business running would help me to generate money and so I started an Indiegogo to try and generate money for my little business Zombie ToyBox. (This is the link in case you were wondering although by now it has expired: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-launch-zombie-toybox-jewellery/x/3818268)
Anyway, I knew I couldn't do this all by myself and I was going to have to tell Red eventually and so I approached him and told him the whole thing. He still wasn't happy about the idea of taking money from me but told me that he would help me launch my business whether it was to do with getting the ticket or not.
With his help we soon became ready to launch. It was a couple of days later than I'd hoped but at least we were progressing. I can't tell you how excited I was when my campaign went live. Red had expressed how he doubted we would raise the money but was determined to help me out as much as possible. He was just looking out for me and had already accepted that he wouldn't be able to see his girlfriend, but I told him that I'd just be optimistic for the pair of us.
Unfortunately, my hope was wearing thin as it was about 5 days in and nothing had been donated - despite my friends' best efforts to spread the word. I was feeling pretty crappy. I honestly couldn't have cared if it was just for me but even though he hadn't asked for it, Red was depending on me. Well I ended up explaining this all to my Dad when I could no longer keep in how I was feeling. And then he said, 'What if I gave you the money?' Now don't get me wrong, I was shocked. My dad isn't one of those who goes mad spoiling his daughter or anything like that but we could afford it and as he said, the fact that I was so upset for someone else told him how important this was to me. And so after a big hug and a thank you I spent the rest of the day feeling a lot more relaxed and later that night I finally got the opportunity to tell Red.
He said no. I went about it as carefully as I could but he told me that he couldn't take it and feel ok about doing so. I will tell you now that I am not a person who is defeated easily. I kept on and on, kept approaching from different sides, kept reiterating the fact that this would not inconvenience us in any way but Red is probably just about as stubborn as I am. But then I mentioned the fact that this wasn't just about him. Red's girlfriend was missing him just as much as he was missing her and Red knew it. He said he would ask her but wanted to make it clear that if she wasn't a part of it that he would never be able to accept it. I said ok.
As it turned out, the next time Red was able to talk to his girlfriend he had asked to speak to her mum first. Quite wisely, he had wanted to make sure it was ok with her parents before he told her about it. Then we had to wait.
The next time I spoke to Red, well, it was a little disappointing to say the least. Though initially her mum hadn't had a problem with Red's girlfriend coming over here, her parents had decided together that despite being 18, she was still too young to travel to a foreign country by herself. Though myself and Red disagreed he said that he had to respect their wishes and I had to agree. But I told Red that he could always tell his girlfriend and ask her to talk to her parents about it. Their opinions were unlikely to change but after everything that we'd done it was worth a shot.
Well it didn't work. And do you know what? It was ok. Some people would argue that I wasted my time with false hope but if anything, I do think some good came of all of this. I was able to show Red how much I appreciated everything he'd done and does for me. He had told me several times that despite not believing in this project's success he still really appreciated my efforts and concern and that felt really good.
I still have hope that Red's girlfriend will be able to come over soon. We have half term during late October and although it's about 3 months wait and the weather won't be as good, by then she will have gone off to University and be able to travel without her parents permission. We'll just have to see.
Anyway, now that's all passed, I can get on to making a more regular thing of this blog. I think you've gathered by now that I care a lot about my friends but there are very good reasons for that. You'll learn about that very soon I promise, but as I said, that's all a bit gloomy but necessary as it sets the structure of this blog. Til then, I aim to enjoy my Summer time. I signed up for NCS Engage4Life and am about to start my second week on Monday. Red actually signed up too, although he's on the second wave and so still currently on his first week which is in Llangrannog, Wales. Safe to say it's going to be making me very busy over the next few weeks but it's definitely been worth it so far. But I guess I see you guys next weekend. Bye til then!
Deanna x
