Mid-Month Goal Review.
19 MayI had 4 goals this month, and figured it was time for a little update:
* To post on the blog everyday – so far, so good! I am actually really enjoying this goal. I was concerned that it would stress me out having to be so structured, but I made a plan and I have successfully stuck to it, and I LOVE all your comments and tweets, so thank you so much! Keep ‘em coming!
* To eat 5x fruit and vegetables a day – I am ashamed to say that last month there may have been some days where I got 2 portions of my 5-a-day at the most. I am trying my best to make sensible decisions, but the way I see it, if I only get 4 on most days, that’s still a massive leap in the right direction.
* To read 4 books – I have finished the 2nd Hunger Games (my thoughts on that coming soon) and I am close to the end of More Blood, More Sweat & Another Cup of Tea. Could read faster but I am struggling to find the time at the moment!
* To workout at least 18 times – I think I am still on track to pretty much hit this target. I decided early on that only workouts that lasted 30mins of more would count, so I made another plan and have so far been sticking to it loosely (but well enough!)
Did you make any goals this month? How are you getting on?
<3
Sophie
The Book Chat.
17 MayLinking up for The Book Chat again today, over at Sweet Green Tangerine.
This week’s prompt is possibly my favourite so far… Share favourite books from our childhood!
The first book I remember loving is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I mean, who didn’t love this book?! I even had a finger puppet edition, so my caterpillar was quite literally eating through the pages and fruit as I read (or rather listened..!)
I even did a project on this book when I was at university (I studied Psychology with Early Years Education) and made a board game and props to accompany it! I <3 <3 <3 it!
As I grew up, I became hopelessly addicted to Harry Potter. I remember picking up The Chamber of Secrets from the book shelves in my classroom once, and another boy at my table asking whether I had read The Philosopher’s Stone already? I hadn’t, but lookin back it seems completely ludacris to me that there was a time when I didn’t know what order the HP books came in!
Finally, when I was a teenager I studied To Kill A Mockingbird as part of my GCSE English Lit course. This is the first book that I read that made me feel like an adult, and I really enjoyed something that wasn’t either trashy ‘chick lit’, or teenage fiction.
Talking of childhood and learing to read, seems like a good time to mention my favourite line from To Kill a Mockingbird and Scout Finch; “I could not remember when the lines about Atticus’s moving finger seperated in to words”. I have no idea why but I remember loving that line when I first read it, and can still remember it word-for-word all these years later!
I don’t plan on having children anytime soon, but I can’t wait to share my love of words and reading and all things book related with some little humans!
<3
Sophie.
A Fun Day Out!
16 MayIt is only on very rare occasions that my flatmate Abi and I get a day off together 
So when the opportunity arose this past Sunday, we decided to go out for the day, and it was lovely.
She had never been to Exeter before, and I was keen to get out of school, so we hopped on the train (but not until after a lie in and breakfast in bed!) and off we went.
It was amazing! We sat in the beer garden….
Went for a walk along the Quayside….
Ate (unphotographed as they were too yummy!) ice creams…
Did some shopping and visited our favourite place – Nandos!
The weather was good, I was already in a good mood following on from Saturday, and it was so refreshing to get out of Taunton, and spend some time together 
Both Abi and I commented on how it felt as if we were on holiday!
<3
Sophie
ps – we also saw these ginger twins wearing matching pink suits – A-MA-ZING!
Tags: Exeter
A Tiny Bit Marvellous.
15 MayOkay, I’ll be honest with you guys now, I love Dawn French. I love The Vicar of Dibley, I love her autobiography, ‘Dear Fatty’ (which my Mum bought me as a present – not quite sure what she was trying to tell me there…) and I was very excited to pick up her most recent book, ‘A tiny bit marvellous’.
As usual, I don’t want to give too much away because I want you to go and read it yourself (seriously, do it now) but the story focuses on the Battle family, Mum – Mom, 18 year old daughter – Dora, and teenage son – Oscar. Throw in a dog called Poo and I think you’ll agree, you gave the makings of a wonderful story, no?!
In short, Mo is having a bit of a mid-life crisis – unhappy in her marriage, struggling with her job and trying to hold together her crazy family, she just loses it and does something drastic. It is so seriously and honestly written, and I could totally relate to the chaos. Dora is loving life with her friends, ignoring her revision, trying to plan the perfect birthday party and arranging to meet strange men on the internet, whilst Oscar is in love with an older man. A tiny bit marvellous tells their story, and is honest, funny, and so well observed.
I found it a little slow-paced at the beginning, but as the bok progressed and i got to know the characters better, I was hooked. I would totally recommend it, and am now waiting eagerly for Dawn’s (I wish we were really on first name terms!!) next release!
Working Weekends Isn’t That Bad.
14 MayWhenever I tell them that I love my job, all of my friends ask whether I mind working at the weekends? Well, yes, of course I would rather be at home with my friends and family lying in and watching tv and socialising. But actually, in the grand scheme of places to work at the weekend, this is one of the best. I’ve had weekend jobs before where I’ve been locked up in boiling hot kitchens washing pans and peeling potatoes for hours on end, but here I get to play sport, watch endless dvds, eat pizza and chat to the kids.
This Saturday was one of my favourite weekend days at work all year. It was the first sunny day in weeks, and this seemed ot help relieve some of the exam stress people have been feeling as of late. There were tests and lessons going on all morning, but in the afternoon people were happy to sack in the revision in place of playing football and table tennis out in the sun, lounging around reading trashy magasines, chatting and playing the guitar.
One of my roles during the week is to coordinate the taking of photos for our school website, so in the evening I decided to take a stroll around the evening activities and catch up with some of the students. I’ve started to realise lately how little time we have left of this academic year, and how much I will miss a fair few of the kids (most of them will be moving on to different schools come September). One boy, Leon, was out stretching and training on the athletics track – we talked about his brothers and sisters and how many bedrooms there were in his house in Germany. Some of the students have been on a surfing trip today and got horrendously sunburnt, so I spent a while thinking of typically red things to make jokes about and compare them to! A few boys were sat playing the guitar watching a football match and they serenaded me as I walked past (‘I didn’t know which road to take until Miss Leach came and showed me the way’!), and I made it up to the tennis courts just in time to catch the winning point. How many people can say that they socialised this much on a Satursday night at work?
I love this place.
