brighter than the sun

It always amazes me just how much a little bit of sunshine can lift my mood. As someone who is a bit of a mentalist, I have learned not to take those rare sunny days for granted. This afternoon I got out of work a little early, intending to head to the gym. Just as I was about to get off the bus, I had a call from Fi-Fi (my flatmate), insisting that it was far too lovely to be indoors, so she picked me up and we headed off on a walk up Leckhampton Hill.

Fi-Fi being Fi-Fi, she picked all the steepest paths and my legs got a thoroughly good workout trying to keep up with her as she bounded excitedly up the hill. To begin with I felt a little bad for not following through with my plan to go to the gym, but how could I really feel anything other than joy as I stood at the top of the hill, the sun shining down on me, warmth on my back. And really, walking up a hill is better training for me than sitting on a bike or rowing at the gym.

We walked on and came across some cows. Neither of us was entirely convinced that they wouldn't get spooked and charge at us (yes, you can call us wimps), so we took an alternative path just to be on the safe side. Of course, we were immediately confronted with another cow blocking our path, and just as I turned to Fi-Fi to ask which she thought was the least menacing, I spotted a wee calf clambering over the top of the slope, who was then joined by a second. There were many squeals of excitement (from me, obviously) and I managed to snap a quick photo of one of them, though I didn't get too close incase mummy cow got a bit overprotective and pushed me over the edge or something (yeah, ok, I'm a little scared of cows. So sue me).

Look! Baby cow!



Eventually we left the cows behind and continued onwards, finally returning to the car after an hour and a half of walking. It was an awesome way to finish off my day and I am hoping that the sunshine continues so that I can get some more walking done in the evenings. Flatmate and I are even considering getting up mega early some time and walking before work. I'm not sure how successful this will be, because I love my bed, but I'm willing to give it a go. I'd also like to do Snowdon at some point in the next couple of months.

My current good mood is about more than just the improving weather, though. I've got a lot in my life to be feeling positive about. I think I can speak for Katie too when I say that over the last four months, at times this challenge has felt overwhelming and we have both had some sleepless nights. For me, certainly, I switch from being stressed over the training to fundraising and back again. But fundraising-wise we are in a great position, with officially over £2000 raised (some yet to be added to our bmycharity tally) and lots of plans for future fundraising endeavours.

Our wine tasting evening last weekend went brilliantly and I have to say a HUGE thank you to Katie, Angela and everyone who came along to taste some wine and have a laugh. In fact, we couldn't have asked for a better result, and I even tasted a wine I liked (sadly at £30 a bottle I doubt I'll be drinking it again anytime in the near future - maybe we can treat ourselves and celebrate when we get back from Morocco, Katie?) I wish I had thought to take photos, but unfortunately I was so busy stressing about being a pourer and not dropping one of the bottles that the thought didn't even cross my mind. Next time, though.

And so, with the £2000 target met, I feel like my focus can switch back again to training. I had a good weekend in that respect too, with trips to the gym on Friday and Saturday, and a 5+ hour walk up to Cleeve Common on Sunday. 

This is absolutely achievable, guys. It's going to be hard work, I know that, but I'm feeling motivated and positive and like I could take on the world at the moment. So please, keep sponsoring us and supporting us, because that's what keeps us going and gets to the gym after a long and exhausting day at work.

If you haven't sponsored us yet, but would like to, why not do it RIGHT NOW and follow this link... go on, go on, go on, go on, go on!

put on that dress

I hadn't intended to leave it so long before blogging again, but life has been a little hectic lately. I can't believe we're coming up for the end of April. How have Katie and I been planning this for 4 months already?! That is a truly frightening thought, and probably a sign that I should be stepping up my training. I've just added a countdown to the blog, and it says we have 148 days until we leave. 148 days! 

Training has been going ok-ish, I have been forcing myself to go to the gym, though not as often as I probably should. But I've been twice since Sunday and on Saturday I'm going to do some hill walking with my flatmate, which will be good for me. A couple of my friends have been hassling me that I'm not training hard enough yet. Apparently, it's time for me to get some help from a professional and build up my strength so that I can cope with carrying my pack (this is your reminder... advice, please). Admittedly, I am going to have to work on this, but I think part of me is in denial. One minute I think 148 days is ages away and plenty of time to get sorted, then I realise that actually, it really isn't and it's time to get cracking.

Let's move on for now and allow me to continue to live in my happy bubble of denial for a little longer. Fundraising is going really well. We are currently at £1630 (not counting the gift aid JHT will receive on top of that!) and I am mega proud of me and Katie for reaching halfway to our target already. Of course, we don't plan on stopping at £3100, and we are keen to surpass that amount by as much as possible, so don't let the fact that we are doing well stop you from sponsoring us *cough cough*

This Saturday is our Champagne and Sparkling Wine Tasting evening and Katie has done a magnificent job in making it all happen. We've sold 39 tickets and are looking at making a tidy profit to add to our tally and it won't be long before we hit the £2000 mark. You may not remember the significance of this, but I'm nothing if not honest. Everyone is well aware that the lovely Ms Motivator is the brains of this little duo, and I am the comic relief. So far I have gone ginger (my hair will be going blonde again imminently) and humiliated myself in a onesie. However, I did say that when we reached £2000 I would wear a dress to work every day for a week and not complain about it (those who know me well will realise that this is quite a challenge for me). So, if you want to witness that hilarity sooner rather than later, maybe it's time for YOU to sponsor us! Look, I'll even supply you with the link again to make it easy for you to give us your money. CLICK ME.

This means it is time for me to start sourcing dresses to wear. I don't really want to spend too much money on dresses I will never wear again, so this is a call for anyone who is a size 8/10 (probably mostly size 8) who would be prepared to lend me a dress that won't make me look like a twat. I mean, I'll feel like one anyway, but it would be good to wear dresses that aren't completely ridiculous and not very 'me', you know?
The next question has to be, what on earth am I going to do to celebrate reaching our £3100 target? I mean, I've gone ginger, I've worn a dress... how else can I humiliate myself?! Suggestions, as ever, gratefully received.

more than you'll ever know

I have had another frustrating week with regards to training as I was struck down yet again by a miserable cold. I'm just about over the worst of it now, but still doping myself up with lemsips and working my way through packets of tissues like there's no tomorrow.

The week was not completely wasted, however, and on Thursday Katie and I put ourselves through the torture of having our photograph taken for the local paper. This was upsetting for me on many levels. I'm never much of a one for being photographed, but add in the fact that I am currently ginger and that this was for the paper and if it's even possible I was less enthusiastic than ever at the prospect of standing in front of a camera.

The photographer came to meet us during our lunch break at work. He decided that it would be a brilliant idea for the photos to be taken outside where the light was better, despite the fact that it was cold, windy and (lightly) snowing. I didn't have my coat, and Katie didn't want to be photographed in hers, so we stood outside, teeth chattering in the middle of the car park as some of my colleagues watched on laughing from the window. Poor Katie's hair was blowing everywhere and unbeknownst to me my hair was also a little all over the place. Thankfully he wasted no time and Katie checked and approved the photos (there was no way I wanted to see them, thanks very much) so the whole ordeal was relatively quick and painless.

Once that was over I had to tackle answering the journalists questions. Initially this wasn't a problem, the questions were standard and easy, all apart from one which I found a little more difficult to answer. I had intended to get Katie to help me, but I soon realised that there was no way she could help me with this, just as she couldn't help me when I was caught completely off-guard by the photographer asking me how old I was when my brother was alive and how well I knew him. You see, here's the thing. I don't mind talking to people about this kind of stuff and I have been answering questions like this for the last 24 years. That's ok, people are curious and interested and I'm hardly going to lie when the inevitable "do you have any siblings" question comes up and say that I don't have any brothers. But really, it isn't something I talk about much, and then only with people I know and trust and almost always on my terms. Even then, most of the time I will just brush over it with something along the lines of "it's fine, it was a long time ago", which is obviously a lie because it's hardly fine. 

Anyway. I tackled the question, got a couple of people I trusted to look at it for me and sent it all back to the journalist (a little later than she'd wanted it). She came back with two more questions, which I suppose I wasn't all that surprised about, but I really wasn't sure I could answer. Worse, she wanted a response within a couple of hours and I was at work, a place where I hardly wanted to be thinking about "my memories of James, what happened, how it affected me as his sister and whether he was still a big part of my life because of the Trust". She understood why I wasn't sure this was something I could respond to at work, told me I didn't have to answer because her deadline was lunchtime. But the questions were sat there in my inbox, and I couldn't help but think about them so to get it from my mind I quickly wrote something down without thinking about it too much and sent it back to her (after, once again, getting Katie to read it for me) before blocking it from my mind.

That evening, I got a couple of messages from people because the article had appeared online. It's here, if you haven't seen it yet. I haven't read it. So there we go. This is an example of me talking about it on my own terms and asking that you don't bring it up unless I do, though you are of course perfectly at liberty to rip the absolute piss out of how gay my hair looks.

To conclude. It wasn't the most successful of weeks, hopefully next time I write I will have some better news to report with regards to my training and I will have kicked this stupid cold for good.

Also, a reminder that you can get tickets to come to our champagne and wine tasting evening on 20 April by messaging either myself or Katie and you can of course always sponsor us by clicking here.

and now for something a little different...

Ms Motivator has finally broken her silence.....

Soph has been doing such a fantastic blog, it seems a shame to step in, but I feel I should show my face!!

I’d like to just say a HUGE thank you to everyone that has sponsored us so far – Soph and I are almost halfway to our target which is fantastic, so thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has donated so far.

We are going to be hosting a series of different events throughout spring and summer to try and get to our target of £3100 for James Hopkins Trust Overnight Campaign (and hopefully beyond!)  On Saturday 20 April, we will be hosting a champagne and sparkling wine tasting evening at St Lukes Church Hall in Cheltenham, starting at 7.30pm.  We have a professional wine tutor who will be talking us through all the tastings, and also giving us a bit of history about champagne and sparkling wines.

Tickets are £15 each, and we would love to see lots of people there drinking champagne in support of the James Hopkins Trust!  If you would like to buy tickets, please contact me or Soph on katherinefionaparker@gmail.com or sophhopkins84@gmail.com or via facebook.

For a reminder of what we are doing and why we are doing it, and to sponsor us or see how we are doing with our target so far, click on the link below:

www.bmycharity.com/twoblondesonemountain

Thank you everyone again for all your support so far, it is really appreciated as it is such a brilliant cause.