Happy Saturday, friends! Another week has escaped us but hey, at least we're getting closer to the weekend, and that can only ever mean good things! I've been back at school for just under a month now, which has been both good and bad; but certainly not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Being in my last year of high school, I'm finally getting to experience privileges such as cake days, free periods, and actually being able to have a friendly conversation with my teachers. It's going to take some getting used to, but it's good- it's all very good. Anyways, apart from that, here are a few happy things from this past week!

I got to see my boyfriend last Tuesday
Boyfriend?! Boyfriend!? Yes!! It's official, I'm attached! On  one of my visits up to a university open day I arranged to meet up with one of my closest friends -who I had strong feelings for- and by the end of the day, it turned into a date. He's a wonderful guy, and I'm so happy everything has worked out. It's going to be tough -and already has been tough- since he lives a whopping 3 hours train journey from me, but it's going to be worth it!

I got tickets to see All Time Low in Glasgow next Febuary
I don't know how, but my closest friend managed to bag us tickets to see my favourite band again. It'll be our third time seeing All Time Low, and not only that, but we've got STANDING TICKETS!

I finally got around to conditioning my hair

I know, I know.. I always indend on conditioning my hair more regularly, but more often than not, I'll forget to buy conditioner, or once I've bought it, it'll get used up by other people before I remember it's mine... Anyways, this morning I went out, bought my conditioner, and actually used it. Woah, I know. My hair feels so smooth, and it smells so good!

I bought myself a new notebook!

So as you may or may not know, I'm a really big lover of notebooks, and I definitely have more than I need, but nevertheless I always love getting myself a new notebook. Paperchase is just perfect for me, so I went and treated myself to a new journal. I'm not sure what I'll use it for just yet, but I'm sure I'll find a good way to use it sometime soon.

I've started reading again

As a kid, you would always find me with my nose in a book, with my bedside table piled high with books, but ever since the start of dreaded exams I've noticed that I read much less, and that's something I've been meaning to change for a while. I set myself the challenge of reading at least one book during the summer holidays, but I ended up being so busy and booked up that the goal seemed impossible, so I didn't even bother trying. However, now that I'm back at school I've decided to start reading again, starting easy with re-reading the sequel to 'If I stay'; 'Where she went'

little ways to be healthier

I know I'm not exactly the healthiest person on the planet... In fact I'm really just not healthy at all. But this year I've recognised that I need to try and take care of my body a bit more.

In the past, I have tried all sorts of diets, and to be completely honest with you, they have never really lasted for much more than a couple of days.

A few months ago I decided I would exercise more. Yeah, I did a whole 3 runs and then my 'busy' life got in the way. Whatever, so I'm a bit of a failure when it comes to being healthy... I'm still trying, right?

This time, I decided I would set myself realistic goals. Stuff that would be easy enough, but that would be good for my body. They aren't amazing new revelations, and I'm not going to promise that you'll lose x number of pounds if you do these things, but if you're anything like me (i.e. lazy, not very motivated...) then you might just find these little things that little bit helpful.

First off, I decided that I would go on more walks.

I reckon this won't be too hard for me, as I already walk to school every day. My walk to school is 2 miles there, and 2 miles back, and because of the way my timetable has mapped out this year, I have a bunch of free periods, so some days I'll be able to go home for lunch, taking my total number of miles walked in a day to 8! Also, I live right next to a country trail which borders a river and a cute little farm, which is perfect for a little stroll when I feel up for it.

Another thing I decided was that I would not go on a diet.

You're probably reading this thinking I'm going completely off my cracker, but let me explain. See, when I tried out a diet, it would only last a few days, and that would make me gain weight rather than lose it, because for the first few days of most diets your body tends to create its own fat before it's used to the change in your eating. And whenever the day came that I would give up on my diet, I would end up binge eating all sorts of junk... so diets are totally ruled out for me! No more dieting!

I also resolved to drink more water, which shouldn't be too hard for me either.

I drink a lot, and I always like to have a glass of some kind of beverage on my desk, so all I really need to do is chuck out the fizzy juices and replace them with water, which'll save money too since water is free...

But on the days I'm not really up to drinking water all the time, I shall make sure that I'm well stocked up on herbal teas, especially when the cool autumn and winter months kick in! Meanwhile, a summery smoothie won't do me any harm!

My third little way to be healthier is to replace one snack a day with fruit or vegetable.

 I love all sorts of berries, but strawberries will always be a favourite. But they can be pretty expensive, so an apple or orange can suffice, and I'll be leaving the berries for a little treat now and then. I really like a bit of raw carrot to munch on every so often too...

Fourth and final, I am going to listen to more music.

Actually, scrap that, I practically listen to music 24/7 already so that's pretty impossible for me... but maybe you could listen to more music.

I saw a post on my twitter feed a few days ago saying that listening to music actually relaxes blood vessels and moderates the production of stress hormones (basically makes you less stressed) which is well good!

What little things do you do to try to be healthy?

T r e a s u r e d

One band which has meant a lot to me over the years is this Christian rock band, flyleaf.

A month before they broke up in 2012, the bands sound engineer Rick Caldwell died.The band played their last show a few days after his death for the benefit of his wife Katie and their daughter.

At the show, Lacey Sturm -the lead singer- spoke a bit about him, saying that "Sometimes we don't understand why these things happen, and there's nothing you can say to make it better. But there's something so honest about having a God to cling to and when we don't understand, just trusting that he is good"

Rick's wife Katie said that she had been listening to the radio, and she had heard this preacher saying that this bad thing had happened. And God spoke to this woman's heart and he said to her "Would you still trust me even if I never told you why"

And it's just so hard to do that sometimes. But there's something so honest in coming to God with your questions and your grief and your anger and just being like "Okay hey God what's the deal? But I'm gonna trust you anyhow even though it feels like I've hit a dead end, and I'm gonna trust that you are gonna use this as a piece of your giant jigsaw puzzle"

And God replies to us and he says "Hey, it's okay. I made you and you are mine. I have rescued you, come back to me" In fact, in Isiah 43 (Contemporary English Version) God tells the people not to be afraid. He says "I have rescued you. I have called you by name, now you belong to me. When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you and you won't drown. When you walk through fire, you won't be burned or scorched by flames"

I don't know about you, but I constantly find myself going back to that place where I'm trying to carry everything in my life all by myself. And I end up falling under the weight of it all but that was never Gods plan. He doesn't want us to carry it all by ourselves. We can't do it- Only God can do it. And that's what he says, he says "I never meant for you to go through this by yourself. I wanna go through it with you. I wanna carry it for you"

Back to what it says in Isaiah 43, "I have rescued you" Stop fighting for your freedom, because you're already free. I have rescued you. "I have called you by name, now you belong to me" I love my guitar, for an example, and I would never give it to someone I don't trust, and when I was away from home for a months road trip around Europe, I really missed my guitar. So much so that when I came back, I spent the whole day with it. 

When I was preparing this, I thought a bit about that, and one thing that kept popping up in my mind is that if we know how to look after our treasured possessions, how much better does God know how to look after us? Even when we're broken, even when it's tough, even when we're scared or angry or sad, because we belong to him. So if things get tough this week or this year, or just in life in general, the best thing we can do is turn to God and admit that we can't do this on our own and that we need to rely on him to take good care of us, his treasured children.