Looking Back At: April 2014

I would love to say that it's been an exciting month in April but there hasn't been a whole load going on. It's been a quiet month but still packed with revision. That has literally been most of my month. 

There was one really good thing that came out of April though. Wicked has been going on tour around the UK and they were in Cardiff, so me and my sister ended up booking tickets last year to go and see it. It was amazing! It's been and agonizing wait but it was completely worth it. There will be a post about that day soon though! So, keep our eyes peeled! 

The Easter holiday and school has been packed with revision otherwise. I can't really say much else about that, it is what it is. It's been slightly stressful and slightly tiring and it'll probably stay like that until July. So my May and June wrap up will probably be the same sort of thing. 

I did have a mini training day this Easter, where I found out how to pack my bag properly, how to cook whilst we're on our expedition and how to put up a tent. It's was actually really interesting and pretty funny. Does this mean I'm prepared for my expedition? Not in the slightest! It's going to be very interesting...

Reading wise, it's been a pretty good month. I can't really complain! 

In April, I finished: 

• Undone by Cat Clarke 
• The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith 
• Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead 
• Unremembered by Jessica Brody

And I'm currently in the midst of reading 

• Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I've read 19 out of 50 books of my 2014 reading challenge and am three books ahead of schedule. We'll see how May goes with reading since with the start of my exams I don't really know how much time I'm going to have to read. I don't really have anything that I'm planning to read during May, just see what happens.

It's been a really short wrap up but there just hasn't been a lot going on. Hopefully in July (possibly June) I'll have some more exciting wrap ups. 

Until then though, good luck to everyone who has exams coming up. I hope you all had a really good April, and do you have any plans for May? 

Looking Back At: March 2014

So, this month meant me going back to school after half term which I was both happy about and slightly not looking forward to. I was looking forward to the fact that I would be more productive during the day but I wasn’t looking forward to controlled assessment deadlines coming in. As soon as I walking into my Resistant Materials class I was told that I had five weeks left until my assessment would be submitted for marking. I has gotten me to get my skates on through and I’m doing my best to make sure that I’m keeping on top of everything going on.

I’ve been throwing myself into a lot of revision and trying to make sure that I’m doing as much preparation as possible ready for May and June. That hasn’t been going to badly and I’ve been making sure I’m attending all after school revision classes which have been helping as well. So, school so far hasn’t been going too badly.

Earlier in the month my sister and I ended up signing up for the local 10K run which is slightly daunting but I’m really looking forward to. We decided that we’re going to try and run it in an hour and fifteen minutes so we’ve been going out on runs to train for that. I can say that it is helping my fitness a lot and I always feel pretty happy after going for a run.

I also finally got signed up for the eDofE. I’m doing the Duke of Edinburgh and have been training since November but we hadn’t enrolled online so that we can track all of our skill, physical, and volunteer work. So, we had a meeting where they gave us loads more paperwork and everyone has pretty much decided what they’re doing for each of the sections and the timescale for each one.

I posted up my first Women in Science and Engineering post this month and am looking forward to posting a more in the coming months. I was speaking to the head of technology in my school who said that he was more than happy to put up some of my posts on his display outside his room which made me extremely happy. The whole reason I’m doing this is to raise awareness of these amazing women and that it’s not unusual for women to go into this line of worse. So, t have him say that he wanted them up meant because hopefully people will start to realise that even though science and engineering is male dominated there are a lot of women in these two fields who have done a lot to contribute.

I’ve also done yet another training day for Duke of Edinburgh which was amazing. It was the first time that it was actually warm and wasn’t tipping down with rain which is always a nice surprise. It was a pretty short walk this time but I would have loved to walk for a little bit longer. We ended up having to draw our own maps and learning some first aid whilst we were out there. 

Book-wise, this month has been slightly slower than February but that books I’ve read or am in the midst of reading have been awesome!

I’ve finished:

• The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
• Soulmates by Holly Bourne
• Larby Lodge by G & P Gallacher

And I’m currently reading:

•  Undone by Cat Clarke

I’ve gotten 13 out of 50 books done for my 2014 reading challenge and am currently one book ahead of schedule! I’ve got a feeling that next month might be a little bit of a slow reading month since exams are going to be so close by but I shall have to wait and see!

So, what did you all get up to in March and what plans do you have for April?

Looking Back At: February 2014

February! A month were I stop feeling so disorientated about the year! January was a bit of a whiz with everything going on but I feel like I have a stable hand of everything going on around me this month. It’s been a pretty busy month but I’ve loved it and there are so many things that have put a grin on my face this month. 

School has been busy but I’ve been enjoying it! I love being busy and having things to do and even though there’s been a few pieces of controlled assessment preparation that I’ve needed to do, homework to complete and revision to be done, it’s kept me on my toes and made sure that I keep busy.

My school and their usual PSE day this year where each year group has a theme and they’ll head over to activities that are based around their themes. A lot of the time for key stage three they’ll get some of the older pupils to lead their lessons and a lot of my friends went to HYPE training a few weeks before hand and were going to lead some year eight form groups and teach them about drugs. I had an idea a few weeks ago that I really wanted to use so I ended up working with some year seven classes to do a team building activity. I can’t say it wasn’t without some difficulties but it was still enjoyable when they actually did start to join in and it was a really good laugh. 

This month I also ended up getting my exam timetable! I ended up running up to my form class when I had spare lessons and got my timetable. It’s not as though I didn’t realise that my exams were coming up but I think looking at the timetable just made it more realistic. It also gave me dates to work towards which has made me ten times more determined. 

Half term came around which I thoroughly enjoyed since it was really nice to have the break from school but I cannot wait to go back and throw myself back into work! I’ve been getting my maths past paper done along with some revision and spending time with my family. 

The big thing that happened this month was that my sister has book our trip to New York City! That also explains the banner! We’re going to be bringing in 2015 over there and I cannot wait! So, we’ve both been spending some time looking at the different things we can do and starting to plan some things out. I’ve been starting to save up for spending money when we go out there but I’m so excited and it’s still setting in that we’re actually going! 

Book wise I’ve been pretty happy with what I’ve read this month as I have loved every single book I have read! 

• The Boy In Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne – reread 
• Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead 
• The Knife of Never Letting Go (The Chaos Walking Trilogy #1) 
• Severed Heads, Broken Heart by Robyn Schneider

I’ve also started reading: 

• The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani 
• Larby Lodge by G&P Gallacher 

I’ve read 10 out of the 50 books I’ve set for myself in my Goodreads challenge so at the moment I’m to books ahead of schedule which I’m pretty happy with. 

So, that’s been my month and I can’t wait to see what March has in store for me! I’ve got a pretty good feeling about this month so I shall have to wait and see what happens! 
Hope you all had a great February and will have an even better March!