DofE (Bronze edition)

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It was a while ago now that I took part in my Duke of Edinburgh bronze award and although the feeling of water in my boots, and wanting to just sit down in the middle of a field and stay there forever, has been long since forgotten, I don't think the memories will be going anywhere soon.

We turned up on a Thursday after a day at school, with bellies full of McDonalds chicken nuggets and pitched up our tents at the site our teachers had chosen. Helping the boys to light the fire, I dragged a whole tree trunk (young of course) out of the forest to show that I was just as capable as them (I wasn't... The bark gave me blisters and dragging a tree through tangles of thorns is not as easy as it first seems!). However after George* sneakily bringing a lighter out of his pocket, we got the fire roaring and we opened the first pack of marshmallows and made ourselves some smores.

 



The next morning was the start of the expedition and I was content that the weather was not as bad as what had been our practise expedition. It was a bright morning, wet on the ground, but there wasn't a rain cloud in sight.

At 09:30am, we left camp, shrugging on our 65litre rucksacks and shoving my feet into my very new walking boots to have them destroyed within five minutes of walking.

It was as the weatherman had predicted: a very nice day, which although seems nice does not make very good expedition weather when you only have a certain amount of water and are walking across spans of fields for all hours of the day.

At one point we found ourselves in a field with some horses. Obviously there should have been a footpath their but at some point it had been blocked off and so all the teams now stranded in an overgrown field with three rather aggravated ponies, had to regroup and find another way around.

That night we all sat around the trangia stove and boiled up some pasta with pesto which we also saved for lunch the following day. We lit another fire and sang songs of old (joking, but our teacher did teach us one campfire song which we sang as our motivation to get us through the next day).

The second day was bad from the start. Eating our breakfast in the rain, myself and my tent mate packed up the tent in the pathetic mist of rain. My shoes were already filled with water and my socks new on that morning felt like tissue for all the good they were doing preventing water to my feet.

After lunch where we had hot chocolates to keep up the mantra, one of our team members suffered an injury to their leg which we all stood around helpless about until she finally relieved us by saying that she could go on.

Coming to the end of the day, we were excited; we'd found the motor way, so we were nearly back. We would have been except it was one of those cases, the one where someone had changed the footpaths and forgotten to include our map. We were lost- not lost, we knew exactly where we were, we just couldn't get back.

Finally after an hour of searching for an alternative route and watching all members of the team break down in tears (I was the only person who kept their cool- they kept trying to make me cry) especially since one party fell down in the stingers which were up to her face, our instructor came to survey the situation. She saw that there was in fact no way that we could get back and made sure that we all knew exactly where we were before she drove us back.

All of the other teams had got back hours ago at 4pm and here we were, looking a state with stinging nettles sticking out of our ears and tears drowning our faces. We were welcomed by our worried parents but funnily enough we just laughed, we laughed and then cried. "We made it!" was said a couple of dozen times- I think that we were all past delirious.

It doesn't sound it, but this is one of the best opportunities that you get at school, I'd take it deal with the pain and come out with the hilarious memories- and maybe a couple of bruises.

Love and soggy socks, Sophie xoxo

If you feel the need to have a visual image of the experience, here is the vlog that we had to create: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSwoxluVLFQ

How to look good in front of your boss

 

As you may or may not know, I work Sunday mornings at a livery yard. It looks after fifteen odd race horses, and a couple of other various ponies. The other day, one of my bosses told me that, quote, 'what I say next is going to sound really odd, but you've got a really good walk.' I know... She went on to explain to me that the way I take big strides and am "bouncy" makes me seem a lot more lively and look happy to be there whereas some people who come and drag their feet at work give themselves a bad image.

It's a hard job and you're constantly active and on your feet, so everyday Saturday night, I get the feeling that I really don't want to get up in the morning to go and have water thrown down my wellies, or straw tangled into my hair. But when I get there I forget all of those thoughts immediately and throw myself into the job and that's the best thing to do.

So here are some top tips for being a star in your bosses eyes:

1. Look like your happy to be there. It's work, I get it; whatever it may be is probably not very exciting, but it's earning you money or a qualification so you need to see it as an opportunity and not spend the time sulking or unhappy with it.

2. Don't worry, ask! If there is something at work that you're unsure of then just ask. It may feel like your boss is getting tired of answering the same questions over and over but as long as you're doing it right, they really cannot complain. The worst thing to do would be to not ask and then get it wrong, especially in a place like the stables. If you work in an office then maybe you should just take a note of how many sugars your boss has in his/hers tea.

 

3. Keep it fresh. If there is something that you need to learn or know on a daily basis at work, then it would be good to give it some thought during the week. For example: my job consists of turning horses out into the field or onto the walker (an exercise machine), so I need to know which horse are which so I know who to take in or out. I try to picture a horse, and then name it, and then picture which stable they live in.

4. Don't be afraid to talk to your boss about the rest of the week. Small chat is easy to do especially if I just ask about a race they'd been to the day before. It also gives you an insight on them as a person and show you that they aren't really as intimidating you first thought.

Much love and brownie points, love Sophie xoxo

On an adventure!

What a hard-working, athletic, calorie burning weekend I have had. It all started on Friday when I decided to take the bus to school unlike every other DofE (Duke of Edinburgh) student. I walked up the isle smacking my pack (which is big enough to fit in myself and probably another me) from side to side yelling 'sorry' over my shoulder.
So Friday was my practise expedition for my DofE Bronze award, and it was tough! Hilarious, but nonetheless tough.
We began right away with nothing but a map and a compass- oh and of course the coffin sized back pack which we had to lug around with us! My group and I walked three miles before returning back to the bottom school field and setting up our tents (by the way, you're meant to use poles- not that we didn't know that...).
After we had eaten our pre-made sandwiches, we took off on our own and walked another three miles. The second route was a lot straighter and flatter than the first so it was all okay... until it started raining. But it is England, so it was bound to happen right?

Taking cover on the outskirts of a forest, we slowly made our way back, beating every other group bar one back to the campsite/school playing fields.
My friend and I had the initiative to cook our dinner (even though it was only five) right then and there whilst the weather was being reasonable, and good job we did because although the others laughed, we were eating our dinners of pasta and chicken snuggly in our tents whilst they tried their best to light their stoves in the rain, Ha!

That night, we played football, Frisbee, and a little bit of uncoordinated hide'n'seek in the dark, and after a rendition of badly sung Disney songs of all kinds, we were told to 'shut up and go to bed!'
I was woken at four by my friend 'tut-ting' and saying 'come on Michael' It turned out that she thought there was a fox sat outside our tent when in reality it was the outer tent, which had come loose of the peg, and was flapping against her hands. Yeah, it was windy!
We walked again and then the moment my feet were back on the schools field, I rang my Mum to pick me up as soon as she could.
This morning I was up early for work, and let me tell you something! With a bruised foot from last weeks accident; two bruises the shape of straps on your shoulders, and a tooth ache the size of Lake Toronto, you wouldn't feel up to working with beasts that could easily pummel you into the ground!
Anyway, that was my weekend, how about yours?
Lots of love, and blisters, from Sophie xoxo

Advice For Exams

I'm so annoyed at myself for not posting anything in so long. I know not a lot of people read this so it's not a big thing in numbers but it's still something that I was getting into a habit with in posting every weekend. So the reason behind my turning into a ghost this past month is exams.

They are not everyone's cup of tea- definitely not mine- but they do have to be done. I'm one week through my 'mock's' so I now have an insight to how it will be this time next year. Let me tell you a secret: they are really not too scary!

Here are some tips for getting through tests:

1. Use all of your time. I could not believe the amount of people around me who had stopped writing with ten minutes left of our English exam when I wrote until the man informed us that time was up. Even if you are sure that you are finished, check through for silly mistakes because we do all make them.

2. Stay positive. It's so easy to let the stress of exams get to you especially when you're surrounded with friends who are freaking out. It's so much better to remain calm and nonchalant to each of the exams. Don't put pressure on yourself for singular exams because then you will only annoy yourself.

3. Revise. Teachers push this on us all of the time and a lot of the time we ignore it but a lot can come from studying one topic a night. We were told to come up with revision time table- of course I didn't because my life is not so flexible that I can plan to the dot which subject that I will be revising each night. But it will benefit you to give at least ten minutes each night to go over a particular topic that you didn't understand entirely or you think that you might need to go over.

I hope this helps and you never know over the next week of exams I might think up more tips for maintaining your spirit throughout this tricky term.
Lots of love, and fingers crossed, from Sophie xoxo

Little Miss London (My post for last week)

I found it quite hard to believe myself that I had lived in England my entire life and had never once visited the real tourist sites of London. I had been once with my family when I was five and I remember buying an Eeyore toy filled with smarties whilst we took a ride on the London Eye. I also went with school and went into the National Gallery. Then last year my God Mother, Mum and I watched a musical 'The Sister Act' and visited Hamley's.

It turns out I have been a couple of times... But I'd never seen Buckingham Palace, Big Ben (which is actually the name of one of the bells. It's actually called St Stephen's Tower), nor Covent Gardens. So coming out of school and turning on my phone on the bus, you could imagine my excitement when I had a text from my Grandma asking if I wanted to come to London with her.

We were sat in the cloak room for 'Whittles coaches' at 08:30 on Saturday morning and discussing the best way to spend the day. It was going to be busy because the Queen was going to be driving out of the Palace, and the royal baby was due (same as my cousins baby), and London was in a frenzy preparing for the London Marathon too. Which was why it took us 3 hours to get there and then a good hour to get into London.

Our first destination was 'Covent Gardens' which was where Grandmother and I bought ourselves a scarf and some jewellery. It was a square devoted to market stalls selling all kinds of things. There was an especially amazing looking candle stall with actual fruit in their waxes. They smelt so good!

We stopped for an Afternoon Tea in 'Bill's' because if us English cannot rock a good tea and scones who can?

The walk from Covent Garden to Trafalgar Square was hectic. It was crazy to see how many foreign people were visiting London. I managed to spot a 'Whittards' where I purchased some of my favourite hot chocolate from.

 

 

 

It was such a gorgeous day; we ate ice cream whilst we sat in the sun in St James Park and the flowers were all in full bloom (you can tell that I was there with my grandma...).

Last but not least, we ended up at Buckingham Palace to see the change of the guards. They look so hilarious with their big furry hats on and it looked like such a lonely job but I guess that it's kind of an hour.

Hope that you have all been having good weather wherever you are.
Lots of love and I <3 London keyrings from Sophie xoxo

Spring it on!

 

Hello natural beauties!
This is my 'Happy Spring' post, and I do realise that Spring officially started last month but I have been on holiday and so haven't been able to write this post.

Although I have a love for Autumn and all things mustard yellow, I must admit that this year I have been swayed by the gorgeous blossoms that I have noticed everywhere in the country. (Even by the side of the road in France!)

 

 

It must be the beautiful white and pinks blooms and early sunshine (instead of April showers) that have pulled at my heart strings... that and the many chocolate eggs that I have acquired from Easter.

 

This Spring might just be one of the hardest seasons of my life so far- until this time next year- because of the painful five letter word: GCSE's.

 

So for teenagers in the same boat as me, now is not the time to be looking for ways out of studying for the dreaded tests because in four months, it will all be over... until September, when we get to do it all again! Get your head down and try your best because as long as you do that, no one can tell you that you haven't tried, no matter what the results are!

 

What is your favourite season, and why?

 

Love and cherry blossoms, Sophie xoxo

One of the Boys

Everyone says that when we're young, we all think that boys have germs and that we never want to even touch them. A conversation at lunch reminded me that I must have been a little diva at primary school. That, or the boys just thought of me as one of them (that would explain the no boyfriend aspect.)

At my very first school, if I remember correctly, we used to have daily fights in the playground. Not real fights (I'm guessing) just pretend silly little battles between the girls and boys. However, I distinctly seem to recall that every lunchtime the boys would ask whether I was on 'their side' or the girls would beg me to be with them. It's quite flattering now!

That then went on to my second primary school where I befriended the five boys in our very small class. I was the only girl that they would let play with them in the game of zombie tag which we played every break time and lunch time without fail for three straight years! I did slowly and effectively manage to get the other girls involved though, so by the end of year six everyone was playing. At this school, I was also the only girl on the football team. Everyone else played netball but I just couldn't get my head around not traveling with the ball, what is with that? So I became obsessed with football and started to get quite good at it, I think that was why a lot of the boys respected me and didn't mind getting paired up with me. I dropped football in high school which I quite regret now.

This has seemed to carry on into high school and although I don't spend my breaks playing tag like a little girl anymore, a lot of my best friends are boys. I guess that's my point really. Just because you have all of your girlfriends, boys aren't two faced (well not all of them) and that's what I find really comforting when I tell them my deepest secrets... (jokes, I don't have any deep secrets,) so don't be afraid to befriend a guy.

Love and chilling with the boys, Sophie xoxo