Easter Weekend: BCA Nationals and the Bluebell Wood

Life recently seems to be always busy. Blink once and before you know it, it's three months later and you're not quite sure where the time went. This very phenomenon happened to me in regards to Easter weekend. I blinked and the four glorious days of holiday were over, blinked again and here we are - two weeks further on and I'm only just putting fingers to keys.

Easter weekend kicked off with a cheer comp - myself and my team, Sparks All Stars, were off to British Cheerleading Association Nationals in Telford. Which, as it turns out, is a large town quite near Birmingham but also quite near Wales. My friends and I stayed in a little village called Ironbridge, home to the world's first  (rather pretty) major bridge made out of cast iron which also happened to be just over the road from our pub hotel. However, we didn't have much time to enjoy the scenery as it was early to bed in preparation for an early wake up call the next day.

The following day, our alarms went off at a painful 6am. Then, it was on with  our make-up, up with our hair and out with our uniforms on, ready to perform on the mat! We were all quite nervous as this competition historically was one we don't perform all that well at, but we were going to give it our best shot!

After much waiting around, we took to  the mat and smashed out our routine with all the energy we could muster.

Then, it was all over and we were back to waiting for results....

Finally, it was time for awards! We nervously waited, our anticipation heightened by the fact that awards were delayed! Bu then, suddenly, with barely any warning, the judges were announcing our category. We came second!!

Although this wasn't first place, we were super super happy as we hadn't been expecting to place at all!

Happy but tired after our long days, we eventually headed home to our waiting beds.

Sunday morning, I was up early again to head to my childhood home for a couple of days of relaxation, tasty food and being spoilt. Oh and Easter eggs (finally!). My boyfriend also joined us, just in time to devour a home cooked dinner of leg of lamb!

The final day of the holiday (after golden chocolate eggs for breakfast) was spent visiting the Bluebell Wood, a wood near my home which, come spring, is carpeted in bluebells as far as the eye can see!

It's really a rather spectacular sight!

Hundreds and hundreds of beautiful blue (purple-y?) flowers everywhere!

After our walk, we retired to the village pub where we basked in the beautiful sunshine....

...before heading home for a late lunch outside under blossom in the garden.

An exciting weekend finished off with some well needed relaxation!

Revision Season

Spring has come around and so it's that horrendous time of year again when I dust off my text books, dig out my coloured pens and wear the same pair of pyjamas for weeks on end - revision season is upon us and I've retreated to my cave.

Unfortunately, this means that over the last month (and probably for the next month) literally nothing of any interest has happened in my life. However, there have been a couple of rays of sunshine which have pierced through this gloomy time and so, in an attempt to make up for my lack of posts (sorry!), I thought I'd share with you a couple of pictures from this Easter to illustrate these highlights.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and are still munching your way through all that chocolate!

SNOW IN CAMBRIDGE / Revision Time

So despite it being March, for some bizarre reason we have snow! Baring in mind this is the country where throughout my childhood (when I would have wanted to play in it), I swear there was barely any. Ever. Now however, when I'm more concerned with issues such as 'Are the trains running on time?' and 'Can I get down the motorway to get home?' the heavens decide to open and cover everything in fluffy whiteness. Very pretty but really not all that practical.

Anyway, despite all of this, today I was a bit more enthusiastic about it because I got to see Cambridge dusted with a few flakes! Normally I'm not around to see this and so was excited to realise I would when I woke up this morning. Cambridge is (undisputedly) one of the most beautiful cities in the world and seeing it with this extra little frosting was really rather magical. I just wish I'd got up a little earlier to see it before the day (marginally) warmed up and it melted a little. 

(Sorry there aren't more/better photos- it was really very cold!)

Moving on from the wonders of British weather, I have a little apology to make. That dreaded time of year is upon us again- exam season. This means that for the next five weeks or so, my social life will vanish and I will be buried under piles and piles of books. This means won't be blogging quite so much as maybe I have been over the course of this blog's existence. So for any devoted readers out there (hopefully there's one or two!) I'm sorry and please try and bare with me. With any luck there will be a couple of interesting posts, but don't hold your breath! 

Look how many books I have to read! 

For all those who are also starting to revise, good luck and remember to eat well, sleep well and think happy thoughts- summer is only around the corner after all, although someone may need to remind whoever's organising the weather..!

(Also it's coming up to Easter and who doesn't like chocolate eggs!?)