Getting soaked in Bath

Those road trips to meet up with friends you haven't seen for months, to explore somewhere you don't usually go which are planned months in advance...only to be hampered by the British weather? Still love them!

I hadn't been to Bath for years and some of the girls hadn't been at all so it was the obvious choice for a city to meet up in. It's also roughly halfway between Southampton and Cardiff so Sophie didn't have to do all of the driving to meet up with us. Bath is one of those cities you have to visit in the UK as it's rich in historical culture and is beautiful to wander around. The rain stopped after lunch and we enjoyed the gorgeous sunset whilst walking around the Royal Crescent giving stunning light for photos.

Being young professionals and not flushed with cash we decided not to do the Roman Baths tour (arguably what Bath is most famous for) and instead walked around the cobbled streets, had lunch at Giraffe and chatted not stop to catch up with each other. It was a perfect day!

(The photos are dark and many had rain drops on my lense so I couldn't use them, they're still memories though!)

Dream Job

How much fun is this Blogtober challenge? I'm all in for fun things, so I'm jumping right in with October 2nd: Dream job when you were little/what is it now?

As with every kid, I had differing dreams and aspirations throughout my younger days. I think when I was really little I wanted to be a Princess, what little girl doesn't? In all seriousness though, the major job aspiration I had was to be a backing dancer. Not famous. Not a singer. Not photographed a lot. Not the centre of attention. Just the dancer in the background. Needless to say, this hasn't happened and I quit dancing when I was 12.

I still watch the dancers more than the singers when I go to a concert or watch a show on TV though. It would've been the coolest job!

My dreams now are a secret! I'm a little scared to see them through and don't really feel comfortable sharing only for people to throw out unsolicited advice. Sorry!

Linking up with The Daily Tay @TaylorGraceWolfe and Helene In Between @ heleneinbetween

September Goals

4 days into the new month and here are my new goals. I could tell you that I've been pondering everything I seek to achieve but that'd be a little fib, truthfully I've decided to set goals to push myself this month to be the best I can be.

Finish the She Reads Truth Hosea study

When this community of women started their web-based bible study two years ago I was struggling to find devotionals that I could relate to. I was living in Korea at the time and discovered She Reads Truth through Instagram. I was hooked. The women who wrote the devotionals were so real, so truthful and not prejudiced. They've released an app on both Apple and Android or can be found at www.shereadstruth.com. I've not been brilliant at keeping up with the studies in recent months and I really want to improve discipline in this area.

Run at least twice a week

I went running the other day for the first time in a couple of months and as usual, it almost killed me. It's tough, it's gruelling, it can be embarrassing, but it feels so good to push myself in this way both physically and emotionally.

Try new recipes from my cookbooks

Fuelled by my last post, I'm determined to get those pretty cookbooks off my bookshelf and see what delicious meals I can create. The trickiest will be Korean food as I don't believe I can do it justice but it's worth a try!

Have my first dinner party with friends

Those meals I've cooked are going to have to be tried by many mouths to get a true judgement on my efforts. I've also not had a dinner party in my new place yet so this needs to be done!

Print holiday snaps and use them in decor

Pinterest is to blame for this goal. Pretty frames, pegs and string, scrapbook collages, they all need to be made. Hopefully they'll all look great, fingers crossed!

Check back in October to see how I've done on these goals. I've kept the list short; no need to be too enthusiastic, I've already lost 4 days!

Lately

Matt and I discovered Netley Abbey one afternoon after sailing...how could I have lived 10 minutes away and not known it was there?!

I've had a whole week off! That's what I've been upto. How did I spend it? The best way a broke girl could:

• I had lay in every day and enjoyed the fine hobby of bed rolling (waking up and rolling around a big empty bed). 
• Cooked breakfasts when I could be bothered and chocolate cereal when I felt like it.
• Because I'm still looking for a flatmate my place is my own which allows for craft materials to be left strewn about and impromptu card making to take place, perfect for when midnight inspiration strikes.
•  Coffee and lunch dates with friends and even with Matt (he's a workaholic so when I dragged him away for a lunch date I felt like a heroine). 
• Cuddles with my dog all afternoon, enough said.
• Bike rides and runs in the last of the summer sunshine.
• Finishing books, starting books, finishing books, starting books...
• Baking for and welcoming people into my new home. When people come bearing gifts of flowers, food, a coffee machine etc. they were extra welcome.
• Discovered some new blogs and wondered how these clever women link their Google+ profile to their blog without ruining the Blogger platform. I still don't know the answer to this but have loved reading new blogs all the same.

However, fun had, now I'm bored and wanting to get back into work and get some business done! 

 Netley Abbey ruins. More information about the Abbey can be found at the English Heritage website.

He's so handsome...but not a lover of historical ruins.

My dad makes an amazing grandad.

I'm a History graduate so monuments like this have to be studied, photographed and spoken about. 

The weekend I almost made it to Cardiff

It was all planned. Friends organised, bags packed, tickets bought, lift to the train station sorted. I was going to Cardiff for the weekend to visit a friend and shop and eat and kayak and doallthethings!

I started to feel ill in the car. I knew it wasn't travel sickness, the sickness was coming on too fast. I took a pill and hoped it would kick in and it would all be okay. It wasn't. By the time I was dropped off at the train station, you know, not the one near my house but the one 20 minutes away, I felt like I was just holding on.

I wanted to go. I haven't seen Sophie in months and we had so much planned. I called my mum and she made me tell her everything I'd eaten that morning. You know that moment when you start saying something like "well I ate this melon that had been in my hot car for a day, it tasted weird but I didn't want to waste it" that you've found your culprit.

My mum rescued me from the station and I spent the rest of the day in bed. Sunday wasn't much better.

The girls had a great time in Cardiff together. They shopped, got free buritos and went kayaking in the sun.

Weekend, you were pants and I don't want a repeat of you. 

Norway: the final chapter

Easter Sunday marked our last full day in Norway and what better way to relax from our Fjords excursion than to go on a hike!

Bergen city is in a valley between multiple mountain peaks. Mount Floyen was the closest to our hostel and had a cool funicular to ride to the top, so naturally we decided to hike that one. We took the funicular to the top which in itself was an experience, then hiked about at the top of the mountain, finally walking down at the end of the day.

I wasn't up for the mega peak walk so the man and I broke off from the group and relied on my awesome map reading skills. This involved lots of roundabout path walking, chasing waterfalls to find a lake, getting lost in woodland when we had thought the sign pointed that way and finding ourselves in a housing estate half way down the mountain. We started our hiking expedition (this terminology makes it sound grander than it was and I love that) at 11am and didn't return to the hostel until 5pm. That's a whole lot of walking time whilst wearing Toms which have, as I found out, little foot support. There was also the embarrassment of an argument and tears at the top of the mountain which made my trusty partner seem like a horrible boyfriend.

On our final morning we explored the famous Bergen Fish Market which actually turned out to be little more than a market stall just a little bigger than Tesco's fishmongers. We sat by the wharf and enjoyed the sun on our faces one last time before returning to Britain where, surprise, it was grey.

Norway, I loved you for a weekend but I don't think i'll be moving anytime soon. You're too expensive!

Norway Part 1

Last week I went to Bergen Norway for the Easter weekend. Don't ask how a skiing holiday turned into a Norwegian city break because quite a few people already have and to be honest, I haven't a clue. One minute we were planning to ski, the next we were booking flights to Bergen!

Plane selfie: If you try and say "Bergen" when a photo is taken this is how ridiculous you look

We flew Friday afternoon after a delay and an unhealthy holiday snack in McDonalds. There were 9 of us in all from Church and it was great to get to know some people I haven't spent much time with before. Arriving in Bergen in the early evening and catching our transfer to the hostel, we ventured to the historic harbour to find some food.

We found this shop when searching for dinner 

The first thing which struck me was how expensive everything was! We ended up paying about double what we would in England for everything, from bottled drinks to food. The alcohol was astronomical so I didn't drink at all whilst away. Then again, we didn't see any drunk people at all so that was a plus to the expensive prices! I tried some reindeer soup and some chicken soup for dinner the first night and was nonplussed by it.

The Unesco World Heritage street...a.k.a. where we found the best food

Our hostel was Marken Guesthouse and it was genuinely the best hostel I've ever stayed in. The decor was fresh, the rooms, lounge, kitchen, toilets and showers were always clean and well stocked. The price was pretty good too! Definitely recommend to anyone visiting Bergen. We were split between three rooms but thankfully didn't have to share with anyone we didn't know. It was nice to have others to chat to in the lounge area though and we met people from all over the world.

The hostel from the outside. It was on the fourth floor and reachable by lift an ancient lift with a cage door

High Five for Friday!

Well I think it's almost sorted now this whole new blog design malarky. It's been a mission and i'm the first to admit I had a whole lot of help from various people and of course the designer herself. She has the coolest shop on Etsy so if you're looking for a bit of a revamp of style for your blog check out her designs here. Back to Friday though because it's my favourite day of the working week!

1. I had a bit of a baking frenzy on Sunday and ended up baking a fruit loaf, a chocolate fudge cake and sultana/vanilla mini cupcakes with fudge icing and Malteasers. Not sure what happened there. Nesting hormones gone wild?! Who cares, if I do say so myself they all tasted amazing (I have actual tasters to back up this opinion too though...just to be certain). Here's the chocolate fudge cake...

2. One of the best things about my relationship with the boyfriend is that we share similar hobbies and can do them together sometimes. Not ALL the time obviously but it's great to share common joys in life. Tuesday we went climbing with some friends and took an obligatory selfie...of our feet though because let's face it, sweaty exercising faces aren't the greatest are they? My shoes are obviously the cute turquoise pair...

3. Not that this really pertains to my life but I found out you can breed a husky/retriever cross and they're just about the cutest pups out there. I want one. 

4.  I absolutely love spending time with friends, drinking coffee and eating something delicious. When the sun comes out and it's heat warms my skin that is even better. That's why this coffee date was full of laughs and a time of relaxing on a Saturday morning.

5. I saw these cute slippers in the Joules shop before Christmas but definitely wasn't going to pay 15 pounds for them...getting them for 4.50 was much better. While typing this I realise I don't have a pound sign on my keyboard...that's a little problematic. I also note this is another picture of my feet for which I apologise but I kinda like shoes so...

  

Have a great weekend!

Travels

This week i've been trying my hardest to stick to my budget which will hopefully make my bank balance look a little healthier and help me save to move out. I've been praying about friendships too and 2 opportunities have sprung up...both of which cost a fair bit.

The first is to fulfill a promise i made to a best friend 18 months ago when we said goodbye at Gangnam Station and I left my home and life in Seoul. I told her I would visit her in Texas when she returned to the States and she's been back for a year already. However, she's also looking at returning to Korea this Autumn so my time window to visit has suddenly shrunk! After scanning the internet for flight prices we've settled on March for my visit to Texas and i'm so excited to see her again and all the state has to offer!

The second is to go with new friends at Church to Bergen in Norway over the Easter weekend. I'd never really thought about visiting Norway before, I mean it's not that I didn't want to, it just never jumped out at me as a place to go to. After checking the weather averages I can't say i'm ecstatic about the thought of a cold, snowy city break but I want to go with those people, so to Norway I will go!

This is a little scary but i'm going to be tracking my weekly weight and exercise goals this year:

Weight: 80kg
Exercise: Managed 3 gym trips,3 swim trips and a climbing evening this week. 
Using the MyFitnessPal app is really helping with logging diet and exercise, plus it's motivational as friends can see how much you're eating vs. the calories you burn!