Showing posts with label Cassandra Clare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassandra Clare. Show all posts

Friday, February 1, 2019

I Train Like Emma Carstairs For A Year | January 2019





Has anybody else struggled to even start their New Year’s resolutions?
I did for sure. I even posted mine on the blog and then failed to start it until January 17th. 

I have hit some hurdles. The first being that the Krav Maga lessons that I had seen for women only had actually been stopped due to lack of interest. I'm looking for a new class if anyone knows anywhere in the Liverpool area; if not I have one lined up for when I move in August. 

So how has the challenge been since I started?


I took up running again. It's been hard getting up at 5am Monday, Wednesday and Friday but after each run, I'm cold but I am also feeling so light and ready for the day that I understand why so many characters that are athletic take it up as therapy. 

My friend Hannah and I took up the challenge to run a 5k in 9 weeks back in 2018, after hitting a snag where we discovered that Hannah didn't warm up or cool down; we took a month-long break. I want to put the emphasis here, if you go from not doing no exercise to quite high intensity, get a check-up from your doctor and please (PLEASE!) don't leave out the warm up or cool down. You will experience what Hannah did and that is pulling a muscle, which can lead to tearing the muscle - neither are ideal. Hannah didn't pull the muscle, but she was experiencing pain every time her foot hit the pavement and I put a halt on our running. It is vital to prepare your body!

We were using the NHS app for beginners for running. I had some background experience with running as I had attended dance lessons and Paul made us RUN! What the NHS app 'Couch to 5K' is, is a nine-week course to get you from running 10 seconds to 30 minutes in just nine weeks; you can take it as allow or as fast as you want, and you can be coached by the selection of narrators on the app. I chose Sarah Millican for this time as when I'm running my sarcastic commentary is full throttle. 

This is our running schedule;

- Monday, 6:30am: We run 5 kilometres around our nearest high street until 7:30 where if we have time we will go and grab a hot chocolate (the best of the selection I promise.) and if we don't Hannah will go home and shower and get ready for school.

- Wednesday, 6:30: is the same but the run intensifies each time and you are walking less and running more.

- Friday, 6:30: The last run of the week. Although I am enjoying the run, when I know I have a two-day break and I am more excited to sleep in than others care to know. Although the run is the toughest of that week, knowing it is my day off and can go back to bed is great. 

In terms of finding a Krav Maga class, the original one I had decided on stopped the classes on my day off and stopped the women’s only class as they got no interest! 
I'm still on the lookout but if you know of any in Liverpool for around £6-£8 a class email me those details!

Diet - the dreaded thing. 

I'm lucky with Emma as she eats just like any other teenager. Her diet, if she didn't have chef Julien, would consist of Pizza, Burgers, Ice cream and cookies every day until she was sick. 
What I don't so is make pancakes every morning; I have cereal or Weetabix instead. In regard to lunch and dinner I tend to have what I can get for cheap or relatively quickly. I work in a super market and so when I am there my breaks to eat are only 15 minutes, so I tend to grab and a coffee from the fridge and a chocolate bar. I know, so healthy. 

I have been going half and half with my diet. I do know that with my lactose intolerance (it's caused by something in my body - I've not always had it!) it is getting worse over time and so my tolerance of just having the lactose is getting harder to achieve. I am looking for alternatives in my food, and I'm looking at ways I can make my cooking of meals go so much farther! Macaroni and Cheese* anyone?

I've not seen a drastic difference in myself, I know mentally I am a lot more at ease but physically there is no change.

Have you done the challenge with me? If so, how is it going?

Lots of Love,

Jess

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Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Blogmas Day One: My Favourite Books of 2018



On the first day of blogmas Make Me Shakespeare gave to me – My book choice of 2018.


I have to fess up to something; I didn’t post this on the fourteenth of December like I promised to. As some of you know I am an intern for a church for my gap year (ay-up fellow Impactors!) and these last three-weeks have been the busiest I have been in a long time. I am going to be posting all the posts probably at the same time, so you can continue reading as you see fit.

I thought I would start Blogmas different to what I found during market research. A lot of other blogs begin the period with a book review. I haven’t finished Lord of Shadows yet, so a review would be half finished; my alternative is my favourite books of 2018!
Although Make Me Shakespeare began in August 2018 I feel so blessed with the support of my readers and followers on my Instagram and YouTube. I’m still hashing out who I really am in the BookTube/Bookstagram/BookBlog communities and not being criticised for that is amazing.
Shock horror I haven’t achieved my GoodReads goal of 40 books this year, I have read an amazing amount; here is my list of 2018 favourites.


~ A Crown of Wishes, Roshani Chokshi
I can’t say I’m surprised that this is on my list of favourites because of how much I loved it during my first Readathon. The book is the second in a collection (I have yet to read The Star-Touched Queen, therefore I can’t vouch for if it is a series or collection) but I found that you could read the book without having to have read the first book.
The Crown of Wishes is a fantasy young adult fiction novel, using both her own cultural references and her amazing imagination to carefully weave this novel together that both immerses you into the story but keeps both the real and fictional world separated.

I highly recommend the book for a good read that isn’t too hefty but isn’t a novella! The UK cover is amazing as well!
If you have read A Crown of Wishes or have done because of this post, what are your thoughts?


~ The ShadowHunters Collection, Cassandra Clare
My second recommendation is a series. In 2018 I had re-read the mortal instruments series and had fallen in love all over again. Cassandra Clare has a mystifying way with words that sucked me into the Nephilim world of chaos and outrageous beauty.
I started with the first books but during the time of reading that series I bought the infernal devices series as well and have also bought the new Cassandra Clare, Queen of Air and Darkness. It’s safe to say that Clare is a long way from stopping/retiring from her very prominent literary career as she has also announced a new series coming out in 2019 called the Last Hours!
The entire collection is amazing as it doesn’t just focus on a couple of characters she has created. Each new series focus’ on a different group of people but also has links to the other series. You can start anywhere, if you can forget spoilers, but I do love to just start from the beginning.

I guess I did read more than I thought in 2018, I need to update my GoodReads! Do you follow me on my other social media?

If you are from my Instagram, you will notice that I have moved my blog; I did this as Blogger gives me more creative freedom and I was a stan for Blogger back in the day.


I’ll see you around Kiddos, 11 more blog posts to Christmas!

Love Always,
Jess

O.W.Ls Resit June 2019

Hey Guys, How are you all doing? I’m sure if you have been around the BookTube or BookBlog hemisphere recently you might’ve heard o...