NaNoWriMo...

Happy Autumn all! It's almost November, which means people in their thousands will be participating in NaNoWriMo. As you can see above, this stands for National Novel Writing Month. Through November, you commit to writing 50,000 words of a novel. Your novel. From your own brain straight onto the computer/paper/parchment...If you want more information you can head over to the website: nanowrimo.org

This year I've decided to take part. So far I have no idea what I'm going to be writing, not even a vague plot idea. So I have a lot of planning to do before November 1st rolls around! I've pulled together a notebook dedicated to NaNoWriMo for my notes & plans, and intend to just write with abandon and see what comes out. I'm looking forward to the challenge, despite it being a slightly daunting one.

If there are any other NaNo's out there, my username is BeckyBoops :)  

No-Spend March

I'm challenging myself!

I'm going to cut my spending through March - this mean no more cheeky coffees, or anything else for that matter. I am on a spending ban - other than necessary items like food and petrol. My rules are below, join me if you fancy it!

Rules:
Only buy what you need to live - food and petrol.
No more coffees or lunchtime food trips
Use as much food as you can from what is already in the cupboards/freezer
Use spare time to go through clutter and chuck/keep/sell things

I know full well I am going to find this difficult, especially as I tend to bulk buy food and binge eat. So I have a couple of techniques to help me along the way...
1. Go for walks at lunchtime instead of driving anywhere (saving in petrol and reducing temptation to buy things!)
2. Don't bring my purse out with me
3. When tempted to spend, set a 15 minute timer and do something else that will occupy my attention, when the timer goes off re-evaluate how tempting it is. If youare still likely to spend, set the timer again and distract self - repeat until able to resist! PS - this works for food cravings too...

I'm tracking spending in my Bullet Journal (more on this later) so I'm holding myself accountable! I'll let you know how I get on with this...

Happy March everyone! 

I stopped dying my hair for a year and this happened...

At new years I was challenged to avoid dying my hair for a year. I accepted the challenge, and took the opportunity on new years eve to dye my hair one last time. Now, over a year on, I have successfully avoided hair dye.

I have been tempted to break the challenge...every time I see a hair dye aisle in a shop I go and stare longingly at all of the different colours. To anyone who has seen me doing this I must look very strange! I do feel like I want to dye my hair, but at the same time I'm enjoying not having to worry about keeping my hair colour vibrant and fresh, and there is the added bonus of no longer spending money on hair dyes every month!

I was worried about my roots coming through and really hating the way they look, but it hasn't been too bad. A part of me quite enjoys being able to see my roots - it's like a progress tracker. I am all about visual progress trackers! My hair hasn't grown as much as I thought it would, but I can see that it is getting healthier. The more it's grown out, the more it looked like I had dyed it ombre - especially when the brown colour I dyed it at new years faded to show the blonde underneath again.

I like how it looks, I have my curls back and I like having fresh smelling hair. No more chemical-smelling hair for me! Following that thought, no more stained towels, smelly bathroom, or stained fingers either...bonuses all around.

So here we go - I got pics with my hair straight so you have an easier time seeing the colour and length.

You can see in the 2016 picture that the ends of my hair are blonder - this is where the brown dye faded adn the blonde underneath came through. my roots however, are all my own colour. From roots to around my ears I should say - I don't think it's just my roots anymore!

I was originally going to dye my hair as soon as possible, however, I decided to keep going and make it 2 years without dying my hair. I am curious to see what the colour ooks like when it's all my own...plus I have my wedding to think about, so I want my hair to be in the best condition possible.

PS...apologies for the crazy smile, I had to replicate the frist pic sooo there it is again.

The Empties Challenge - November Edition

Month 2 of my empties challenge and I think we've done okay this month! (even though this is a really late post!!!!!)



1: So...? Enticing Bodyspray

I received this in a 3 pack as a Christmas gift. It's taken me a while to use it, but it is a product that I use on a semi-regular basis, especially in the summer months! I like the scent of these - even if they make me think of teenagers and tweens. As it's an aerosol, the spray is always cold and refreshing. The scent is sweet and fresh.




2: Herbal Essences Naked Volume Shampoo

I was drawn to this shampoo because of the lack of parabens and colourants in it. Plus it was new and I wanted to try it out! When using it, I loved the scent, and it foamed up nicely in my hair. I did fee like it wasn't cleaning my hair as well as a normal shampoo, but once I had become accustomed to using it I didn't have a problem with it.










3: Herbal Essences Naked Volume Conditioner

Did someone say silky? No? Well, my hair is! I like this conditioner a lot, I have quite dry damaged hair, and this conditioner felt like it was working wonders on it. I like the scent and the way it makes me hair feel afterwards.







Voila - that' what I managed to empty in November. I won't be doing a December empties post, but I will be continuing these in the new year!

Boop's Bookshelf: Close Range by Annie Proulx

Close Range checks off 'A book of short stories' in my 2015 reading challenge 

The Author

Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. She writes several collections of short stories, and her most well known work would be Brokeback Mountain - which was adapted into a film. (However, many people who have seen the film wouldn't know it was originally a short story). Incidentally, Brokeback Mountain is included in this collection of short stories.

She has won several awards through her career, including a Pulitzer Prize, the Dos Passos Prize and the O. Henry Prize twice - both for stories within the Close Range collection. 

Proulx currently lives in Wyoming, the area in which Close Range is set.

The Synopsis

How does one write a synopsis on a collection of short stories? 

Close Range is a collection of stories all set in the Wyoming - a mountain region in the West of America. The stories are set at different time periods, however there are common themes throughout such as life as a rancher and the open spaces of Wyoming. All of the stories and all of the characters revolve around life in Wyoming.

My Thoughts
It's very rare that I read a book of short stories. In fact, I don't think I have ever read a book of short stories! Annie Proulx was able to create scenes in rich detail, no matter how short the story was. each of her stories were written differently, some very differently which I think is an impressive talent - usually an author has a recognizable style that comes through in their writing, but with Proulx this was not the case. I found that engaging and impressive.

The hardship and moral ambiguity of the characters and their situations really stands out through all of the stories. The immoral situations that they find themselves in are often written in as throwaway comments, and treated as normal or expected - especially the rape of women through the different time periods. It made an impact, and helped to make the reader understand how things were and the character's attitudes to life. It made an impact.

All of the stories really drive home the feeling of an open, sparse area where you don't come across many other people. The characters all seemed to be stuck in Wyoming, or always coming back to it.

My Rating...

3.5 stars

I enjoyed reading it, I admire the authors writing skills and it's a collection I may reread in future.

2015 Reading Challenge

You heard it here first, folks. I'm attempting to complete Popsugar's 2015 reading challenge. 

I started this in January, however I haven't posted about it! Big oops. Well, to be fair I have been busy with setting up a bookclub at work...Yay me! My first book club!!!

I'm currently three books in, and I'll be posting about them at some point - I can't promise when that will be however...

The work book club are also following this challenge, we split the categories that don't require a personal book choice up between us, and came back with our selections for those categories - they are all listed below so have a look! This way we are all reading things that we may not have thought of or read before. We have some really interesting suggestions so far, I'll list a few for you!

A book with more than 500 pages: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

A book with nonhuman characters: Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

A book with a colour in the title: Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A book more than 100 years old: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A book that was originally written in a different language: The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

And many, many more! I'm really looking forward to reading all of these great books, and all of the ones that I am choosing for myself!

 

BLOGTOBER14 - Day 1

Good morning my pudding puffs. Blogtober14 is finally here!

I've no idea if I will be able to stick with this, but I hope so...

Day 1 prompt: If you won the lottery you'd...

...Immediately want to put it onto my budget sheet to see how rich I now am. GOODBYE DEBT.
I would literally pay off my overdraft and student loans, then put the rest aside. I know that may be a little boring...

Winning the lottery doesn't automatically make people a millionaire. What if I only won £10? The prompt does not specify an amount...but, for arguments sake, lets say it's one of the big ones, and suddenly I'm thrust into millionairedom.

If I Won the Lottery I would:

1. Pay off my debts.
2. Buy a house. Or two.
3. Plan an amazing holiday (because that's half the fun) and take my nearest and dearest. 
4. Buy a car - I sort of have a car, but I've a feeling it will end up costing me a lot in repairs as it's so old! A new car would be nice.
5. Go on a holiday with Mandrew.
6. Go 'Glamping' at a festival. ALL of the festivals.
7. Buy a personal trainer.
8. And a nutritionist.
9. And my own home gym.
10. Plan a holiday...
11. Buy ALL THE THINGS.
12. Including all the books. 
13. And a library to put them in.
14. Invest in something up and coming. Or several up and coming things
15. Buy mum and dad a NEW JEEP.
16. And that motorhome they've been looking at.
17. Get some banging tattoos designed.
18. Moar holidays. To everywhere.
19. Also, savings. ISA's and the whole shabang.
20. Basically, do everything and see everything.

How exciting. Now I'm off to the shop to get me some lottery tickets...

Link up and join in with Blogtober14 ! Tomorrow's prompt: Dream job when you were little/what is it now?