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.

good times gonna come

What a week it has been. Our fundraising has really picked up pace over the last 7 days, and our running total currently stands at a truly stunning £1,325.37. That's almost half way to our target.

I have already told the story of how I came to be ginger, and today the Chief Exec handed me a cheque for £500, as agreed. I always knew that she would keep her word, but there was a certain relief in having that money in my hands and knowing that the loss of my blondeness wasn't all for nothing.

Most of you will know by now that I am always up for being a bit of an idiot. A colleague and I have been trying to out-do each other with progressively more and more ridiculous 'office dares' for 6 months now and so it was probably no surprise to anyone when Roger and I showed up to a work event last Friday night with more ridiculousness up our sleeves.

Roger completely screwed me over at Christmas when I ended up wearing an elf costume, so I decided that I would attempt revenge this time around by not keeping to our agreement of showing up to the party dressed in the onesie he had bought me. He was wearing some 'ridiculous' trousers, but of course they were nothing compared to the bloody pink onesie and he actually suited the stupid things and pulled the look off well.

After a few vodkas I was finally convinced to put the onesie on. Another colleague had promised to sponsor me £10 if I put it on and went onto the dance floor. I'd barely got the flippin' thing on before the DJ announced that I was doing this trek and summoned me to the dance floor, the eyes of the room upon me. It was humiliating and all I could do was stand there, awkwardly, cursing and telling them all how much I sodding hated them for putting me through this. I have issues with social anxiety, so you can imagine that this was actually my worst nightmare. People may be shocked to know that I have social anxiety, but after 10+ years I have learned to deal with it by overcompensating, acting the fool and pretending to be far more confident that I actually am. On the outside I played along, while on the inside I was dying.

I may be a little biased, but my colleagues are a pretty special bunch and they took pity on my embarrassment and soon a bucket had been filled with change, another £113 to add to our tally.

I can't quite believe I'm about the share this with you, but here is a photo of me and Roger from the night:

I know, I know, I look twelve.

I have decided that I should give the 'making a twat of myself for money' thing a rest for a little while and instead I have handed over to Katie to do some sensible event organising. We are holding a Champagne and Sparkling Wine tasting evening in Cheltenham on Saturday April 20th, so if you would like to attend let us know. I can't remember how much tickets are, but I'm planning to make Ms Motivator write a blog post about it herself anyway.

My focus is once again going back to training. I can't seem to focus on both at the same time and during the last couple of weeks I have pretty much done zero with regards to exercise. On Sunday Katie and I went for a walk, which admittedly involved a lot of chatting and not always a huge amount of walking, but we covered some decent slopes and called the day a 'team bonding' exercise.

Picture of the pretty:

After getting the cheque from Jan today I was feeling excited and hugely motivated, and making myself go to the gym after work was pretty easy. I pushed myself pretty hard and expect to be feeling the pain tomorrow, but I'm feeling good for it.

Things are looking up, people. We are totally doing this and totally kicking ass at it. But we couldn't do it without you, so thank you so, so much to those of you who have sponsored us so far. It means a lot to both of us.

Next time on lettersfromavoyage: Ms Motivator speaks and I tell the story of another offer on £500 sponsorship which might be a step too far, even for me... 

i check my look in the mirror

I type to you this evening as a ginger.

The deed was done after work on Tuesday, with my flatmate Fi-Fi in control of the hair dye and my partner in crime Katie in charge of documenting the event with photos. Most of you will have seen it by now, but this is how it's looking:

It has been approved by my generous sponsor, who I don't think actually believed I would go through with it. All I can say is never underestimate me, I don't back down from a challenge.

I've been dealing with a bit of ribbing; carrot, Ginny, Ron, Garfield, to name some of the more polite teasing I have had to put up with. But of course it is all done without malice and I am happy to put up with it.

It has been a weird couple of days. People stare, you see. The problem is that I keep forgetting that I'm a ginger now so I get very confused by the expression on people's faces as they stare at me. Hilariously, I got off pretty lightly because it turns out I suit the ginger look. This means that I have been highly amused by the fact that people are at first unsure as to whether I have done this to myself out of choice, or if perhaps it could be another of mine and Rogers 'office dares' or something. They are scared of saying the wrong thing or offending me by asking (well, those with any tact anyway) and so choose to say nothing, while still giving me a wary look. This is the point at which I jump in and explain and they then look relieved.

Nothing can be so amusing though as when I shock myself as I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror, expecting to see my normal blonde self and being confronted with a fairly bright orange.

It won't be long before I have to carry out my next challenge, as we are getting pretty close to the £1000 mark. It has been agreed that Ms Motivator (aka Katie) is the ideas woman, full of charm and organisational skills. I serve as the comic relief, someone willing to do outrageous things and be laughed at.

Having said that, Katie has let it be known that if someone is willing to sponsor her a substantial amount of money, she would be prepared to go ginger too - so if anyone is willing to contribute to that fund, please let us know. I know I'd like to see Katie do something utterly ridiculous.

Our next fundraising endeavour will be announced in the next few days, so stay tuned for that. In the mean time I will leave you with our first 'team photo' and yet another link to our sponsorship page.

Sponsor Soph & Katie here for trekking/hair dying/any other silly ideas you may have. 

we may need to change the title of this blog...

For once I find myself somewhat lost for words and unsure of what to say. Since my post the other day in which I shared my plans to dye my hair blonde/pink/blue, there has been a development.

It is my birthday today and I'm about to head to London to see one of my favourite bands (Sigur Ros), so I will keep this short and explain more soon.

I have been offered an incredibly generous donation for dying my hair a colour that doesn't appear on the original list. It is such a generous amount of money that there is absolutely no way I cannot do it. Even my father is on board here people.

It will happen in the next week or so, there will be no time wasted. I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous. I don't really consider myself to be a vain person, but this is a pretty big ask and so I am asking, please, please, please, if you would consider donating some pennies to sponsor me for dying my hair...

I'm going ginger, baby!