Wilstead.

It's cold and bright today, but we're under threat of snow on Sunday!
I had planned to have a walk around priory marina and take some photos, I did think about walking to Sandy and getting the bus back. In the end I met my plan in the middle and walked from Priory park to Willstead.

Everything looks a bit wintery still- I whatsapped Jay this photo and he thought it looked creepy- I think it looks springy! no leaves yet but it's sunny and bright, we're getting there!

Further along the cycle route to Sandy theres part of the old railway line- possibly one of Beeching's famous cuts- and originally used to supply the coal power station which closed in the 70s. I was curious about the view from the top so I climbed up the grass on the right of the photo.

I must've looked very silly- I wore my brown leather boots because they keep my feet warm and dry- but they're really not designed for scaling banks. It was worth it for the view, but I almost had to go back down the embankment on my bum!

Shoes not grippy enough.

Lesson learned.

 Proof I was still heading in the right direction! It's funny but because I was stopping to take photos all the way along the route I'd been walking for ages and realised I'd forgotten to look for the Wilstead signs! I thought I might have walked past it.

 I made it to Willstead and decided to walk through the village to see the National Trust's Medieval Dovecote, church and stables. I am still at a loss as to why someone would go to the effort to build such an impressive building to fill with doves.
If I'm honest, I was curious about the medieval buildings, but I am conditioned to associate national trust signs with very good coffee and walnut cake.
Sadly, the tea shop is only available April-September.

I walked through Willstead village and followed signs to the Danish camp- I had heard that it had a cafe but as it also has boats and rowing and a running club I was a teeny bit worried it would be all kale smoothies and de-caf green tea.

All wrong on my part! It's a really lovely cafe, with brilliant views and friendly staff- I'll be taking Traff back there so that we can try out their lunch menu next time we're both free on a non-rainy weekend day.

I had rocky road and tea- after my 4 mile walk (1 mile to priory, 2 1/2 miles to Wilstead and 1/2 a mile round the village) I thought I deserved it.

If I'm honest, I this was the point in the day where I realised I had not thought this through. I'd relaxed a bit too much and a bit too long at the Danish camp, drinking my tea and eating my cake.

On leaving the cafe, I realised the sun was getting low, and the temperature had dropped quite a bit. I was worried I'd still be walking home in the dark!

Instead of walking back along the cycle path, this time I changed things up a bit and walked back along the footpath- I was a bit gutted when I saw the road sign directing me back to Goldington Road- I picked a longer route! 3.3 miles and still a mile back to the house!

The new scenery was nice though.

STEM fair advert :)

In the STEM East newsletter.
:D
Happy days

Looonnngggg walk

I normally walk to work- it's a nice calming way to start the day and gives me a chance to get some exercise and mull things over in my head before I have to get started on my day properly.

The older I get the more I feel like I am becoming a morning person (Although, I have to say I'm not always the most awake at 6am).
I feel accomplished at the moment as I am usually at work before dawn. I know it's only because the Earth is on a "Wobble" and it's darker much later in the mornings at this time this year than it was last year.

On Friday morning I was supposed to drive to work because I had an appointment in the afternoon.
I got to work and then realised I'd forgotten something. The car.
Luckily one of my colleagues offered me a lift to my appointment (Via budgens for bacon frazzels and M&Ms for Traff) so that was my massive stress over with.

I was looking forward to walking home.
I planned my route to give me as much countryside as possible, and as soon as was possible got off the main road and followed a footpath into a field- I must have looked quite funny with my nice boots and work clothes on, ankle deep in mud with grass up to my knees.
I asked a guy who was walking his dogs if I was heading the right way and he confirmed that I was.
He also expressed concern that I planned to walk through a small area of woodland and offered to walk me as far as the main road. Bless him, I turned down his kind offer and did make it out of the woods just fine!
I also stopped to take in the views- Beautiful.
Certainly worth braving the cold for.

I also got whistled at by construction workers- One of them said he loved me.

As I got into town I tried to call Traff (who was at work) to see if I could drop off his M&Ms- He managed to swindle a break so we went to the pub for some cups of tea and a mooch. It was really lovely to see him as I wasn't expecting to.

I have also discovered the most amazing cheese! get ye to the Polski Sklop.
You have to try this!

36 Questions to make anyone fall in love with you.

Can you really fall in love with someone after 36 questions? How about anyone?

A 20-year-old study says you can - and so does the New York Times journalist who took psychologist Arthur Aron's 1997 test to see if closeness could be created in an experimental environment.

The quiz progresses from relaxed questions like, 'Would you like to be famous? In what way?' to more intimate ones such as, 'What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?'.

For his study, Aron paired up a couple of strangers - a heterosexual man and woman - and gave them 45 minutes to answer the list of 36 questions, which gradually grew more intimate.

Then, the couple had to stare into each other’s eyes for four minutes in total silence.

In the end, the two participants who had walked into his laboratory through separate doors as total strangers fell in love.

Six months later they got married - and invited the entire lab to the ceremony.

They are broken into the three sets, or 'rounds', as they were originally presented. Each set is intended to be more intimate than the one that came before.

Set I

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

4. What would constitute a 'perfect' day for you?

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

11. Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Set II

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

14. Is there something that you've dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

16. What do you value most in a friendship?

17. What is your most treasured memory?

18. What is your most terrible memory?

19. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

20. What does friendship mean to you?

21. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

22. Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.

23. How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people's?

24. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

Set III

25. Make three true 'we' statements each. For instance, 'We are both in this room feeling ... '

26. Complete this sentence: 'I wish I had someone with whom I could share ... '

27. If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

28. Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you've just met.

29. Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

30. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

31. Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

32. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

33. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven't you told them yet?

34. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

35. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

36. Share a personal problem and ask your partner's advice on how he or she might handle it. Also, ask your partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2909261/The-36-questions-guaranteed-make-fall-love-Two-couples-soulmates-taking-psychologists-quiz.html#ixzz3P12Kngj3
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All the best presents

On Wednesday, I got home from work and Traff had bought me flowers, and a massive potato about the size of his head.
:)
All the best things.

We finished watching The Royle Family on Nexflix and he made us a veggie bake with the biggest potato I'd ever seen.

Creme Eggs

Creme Egg controversy in the news this week- and all over an outraged buzzfeed- First they reduce the number in a box from 6 to 5 but charge the same and then they change the chocolate!
(Actually, perhaps the first controversy was selling them in January when Easter is in April, but who am I to judge?)

I've seen articles on the internet about this for the last week, and every time my interest has been piqued- Surely changing the chocolate cannot make so much difference?
(In the words of a Kraft foods representative "We never said it was Cadburys dairy milk chocolate, they're just Cadbury's Creme eggs- and we taste tested the chocolate and this is what people liked the best!")

 I had to go to budgens earlier for dinner provisions and they had Creme eggs by the counter.. I ummed and arred over buying one but in the end I did.
They have, until today been one of my favourite guilty pleasures.

This is my analysis of the situation:

• The chocolate is very thin, and weirdly greasy- It reminds me of hershleys chocolate but not in a good way- A colleague once brought back hershleys kisses from a trip to New York and they had a weird, greasy texture. 
• It doesn't really taste like chocolate. Or anything. It's just a hard, chewy shell for the fondant stuff.
• I won't be buying them any more.

So, here are some alternative activities you can do with a Creme Egg (As frankly, I wouldn't bother with eating them):

Sah & Steph's Birthday do

Things I have learned this weekend:

1. The car park under John Lewis in Central Cardiff is locked at 12:30, but if you ring the number on the sign, the nice security man will come and let you have your car back.
2. I do not have the capacity for drinking that I had when we last went to Live lounge, and I should not take up their generous 2-4-1 offer unless I want to have a nap in the night club.
3. I must not make friends with strangers who have temporary tattoos on their faces or flashy glasses. Even if I'd like to wear their glasses.
4. Take a coat.
5. We should do this far more often.
6. Burger king will cure any hangover.

Kindness

Watch it made- Watch making at the University of Cranfield

This evening May, James and I went to the Engineering department at Cranfield university to try out their new "Watch it made" project.
You get to design and produce a watch- You pick the case colour, and use a lathe to produce stripes or effects, pick a background for the face- which is UV printed onto plastic as you watch, You get to engrave the case, Attach the quartz mechanism, Choose the hands and put them in place, set the glass in place and pick a strap to compliment your custom design!

The most difficult part of the evening was finding the correct university building on the campus- Although in fairness it's probably easier in daylight when you can read the numbers more easily and there are students to ask for directions.

The second most difficult decision was to pick a design for the face of the watch- I was temped by the kaleidoscope and by the green and blue hexagons (The same design as James chose but different colours), In the end I went with their newest design- The milky way.

Putting the hands on was really fiddley too- I kept dropping them with the tweezers and it was a nightmare!
Everything else was quite straight forward, and interesting- I'd never really thought about how a watch is made before.

We had a lovely evening and have come away with a new experience under our belts and a very unique timepiece.
I will try very hard not to drop this one in the sink.

Back to work & The virtues of failure

I can't say I'm thrilled to be back at work- I was enjoying having a super restful holiday- but It's been a reasonably uncomplicated first day back.
We had whole staff training all day on some new software that we're being encouraged to use and some new strategies for improving self assessment and reflective work.
It was interesting.

They started the day talking about failure, and how fear of failure on any level holds us back from attaining our greatest potential.
This lead to ways to build resilience and an open mind set to help us to attain our goals and persevere with new challenges.

"All people want to love, to be loved and to be useful" ~ Duckford

It was quite an inspirational day really, but I felt a bit like I'd been overloaded with information. There was so much I wanted to do with all the things we discussed- but before I'd even gotten my head round how I'd implement or use any of it we were off on something else.
Hopefully I've retained some of the message from today. I have a massive headache and I feel a bit like the only thing I've really remembered was what I ate for lunch.
Maybe this is just part of my mental processing.

We watched a few motivational videos- I think that this was my favourite. "Rock bottom makes a firm foundation to build on".

Hopefully I will never experience this level of failure.
We do though, need to consider failure as the process of learning something new- a journey to improvement, as opposed to the end of the road. I know I am guilty of giving up too easily or being very hard on myself when I do not get things right. I'm a human being. I am allowed to make mistakes. I will try and be more positive in my outlook, try and see more things as opportunities rather than disasters.
After all, I'm pretty far from rock bottom, and I hope never to end up there.

On a less philosophical note, I had presents in my pigeon hole today! Presents from my secret angel.
:D

I had cupcakes for after dinner (no, not all 9)! And I'll wear my new socks tomorrow.

The Saga of the new laundry basket

After spending yesterday in the house turning out cupboards, I decided that the order of the day was probably some fresh air and maybe a walk.
I spent a bit of my morning trying to convince Traff to join me for a walk into town- maybe even down to the embankment to see the ducks- He stubbornly refused to join me and started hoovering to make it clear that his mind would not be changed.

I got into town, took advantage of the Debenhams sale, and then realised I had some missed calls from the wifely one- I rang him back and he said he had decided that he needed some bits from wilkinsons.
By the time I caught up with him he had a massive purple laundry basket under one arm and some photo frames for his Norwich memorabilia under the other.
I got some frames- To make a start on my new years resolution to actually frame and look after important photos etc rather than trash them by blu-tacking them up and then regretting it.

After buying our goods we headed back out onto the high street- it was freezing and foggy and our huge shopping made our progress slow- I asked Traff if he fancied a pint, more to get out of the cold for a bit than anything else.
He always fancies a pint.
This was how we ended up going on an impromptu pub crawl along the high street with a laundry basket.

We started in the pub about 1:30pm and we finally left the pub nearest the end of the high street at 5:30pm- after which we headed to the kebab shop for a greasy pizza and chips.
We then took a taxi home.
We're referring to this incident as "Saturday night lite".

After dinner I framed up my photos before I lost enthusiasm for it, although I'll be honest after pudding in the pub and half a massive pizza all I really wanted to do was have a nap.

New year. Clean house.

In keeping with tradition, I have been sorting and cleaning (it's not technically spring, but I don't have any time off now until february, and it might not be freezing cold and piddling down with rain by then- better to get all this life changing stuff done with in january so that I can go back to being lazy but have better systems of organisation by February)

I hadn't intended for today to be quite so productive. Traff rang at 8am to tell me that it wasn't an emergency (The ONLY reason to call anyone before 9am is for an emergency) but that the next person hadn't come into work and wasn't answering their phone, so he was going to be working 14 hours instead of 10.
To be perfectly honest if he hadn't rung I'd probably have slept through until he got home at midday.

I got up because I was awake, Did some flat stomach intervention (2 days in a row- I'f I'm not a size 4 by next week I'll be really upset), cleaned the kitchen and tidied up a bit.
Then changed the bed.
Whilst looking for matching pillow cases, duvet sheet etc I remembered a hack on buzzfeed- Fold the sheet, duvet cover and 3 pillow cases together, and put them inside the remaining pillow case- so when you change the bed it's all easy to find.
As I'd turned the drawer upside down anyway looking for a pillow case I figured now was a good time to implement this hack.

And I found a pesky single sheet which catches us both out periodically- So That is a proper win. It can  now be removed from the draw of linen.
I had achieved what the book "Never hit a jellyfish with a spade" describes as "the quintessential  potter" - where you start with one task and each task leads you to another, productive task and the process is laid back and enjoyable because you don't really have to think about it.

Then I went to put the single sheet in the charity bag and found a load of massive spiders so I had to go and hide in another room.

I did manage to clear off the desk in the bedroom, the book case, under the dresser in the front room, the dresser drawers and the basket in the kitchen.
The places where clutter collects.
I managed to fill one new bag for charity and 4 bags of recycling- Turns out we're really bad for hoarding bits of paper and pens that don't work.

When you next visit, be sure to compliment me on my tidy and de-cluttered home.

My song for the day:

Make my Stomach flat!

Today is the start of "operation make my stomach flat" where mostly I whinge that my stomach isn't flat whilst eating Waitrose Essential chocolate covered digestives, and then eventually do something that is supposed to help.
Then end up with indigestion.

Traff did try and teach me to do push ups yesterday but I just can't seem to do it. I'm much better at eating biscuits.
Maybe I'll get him to show me again if he promises not to laugh quite so much this time.

Weird meals & fish eye photos

After yesterday's lack of any kind of activity- I honestly spent the whole day watching TV, mooching on facebook and texting people- Today needed to have some kind of productivity. For my sanity.

Easy starter- We actually went food shopping. Since christmas we've been on "weird meals"- This is usually what happens at the end of the month when no-one's been paid yet and you end up eating dubious food combinations because that's what there is in the freezer.
We've been on the weird meals because we had loads of food left over from christmas- so no space to put the shopping- but also nothing that really went together. My personal highlight was eating hula hoops and stilton because we were out of crackers. I'm proud of that combination. On new years eve we had roasted vegetable wraps- which sounds awesome expect the main component of the roasted vegetables was potatoes!
Ah well, I'm not against double carbing and some of the combinations have been delicious.
However, I will be grateful to eat normally again now... well, for the next 2 weeks at least..

We went to the massive tesco because we needed to get some food for no-legs. Buying fish food was the whole reason we went shopping- whilst we are happy to eat left over rice wrapped in omelette or curly fries for breakfast, He's not so easily fobbed off with frosties.

I also got boot polish. I've been meaning to sort out my boots for ages. I was shamed last month when I got them resoled and was all pleased with myself for making them last longer, the guy in the cobblers was like "You know, You could try polishing them and they'd last an awful lot longer". I hadn't noticed how scuffed they'd gotten- I supposed I wear them every day and they get scruffy gradually.
So, polish done, I thought now would be a good time to proof them- Ignoring all the warnings about ventilation and death- I always proof my boots in the bathroom because we live in a flat.
This is a 3 monthly ritual now- I spray proofer liberally on my boots, it gets everywhere and all over the floor, I shout to Traff to "be careful because the bathroom floor is super slippery" then I go back into the bathroom 5 minutes later, forgetting the floor is now an ice rink and go arse over tit.
My pride may be damaged, but my boots and the lino in the bathroom are delightfully shiny and water repellant.
All ready for work on Monday.
I have also packed my bag with my lunch/snacks for the 1st week back. And sorted out my work clothes box so that I can easily dress myself on Monday. At 6am. In the dark. bllerrggh.

Traff's back at work today and on nights so he went for a nap in the afternoon. I took the hint and went out for a walk so that he could get some uninterrupted shut eye.
I took my camera and had another go at fish eye photography. I think when I take photos with normal or wide angle lenses I can usually get something I'm happy with (I mean, when I go out with the express intention to take a certain photo or set of photos, not so much just a quick snap to show something on FB or on here)- I'm ok at composition and light and ISO values and shutter speeds, I get them (admittedly not always first time). I cannot seem to get my head around the fish eye lens.
I also handicapped myself further by leaving my glasses by the fish tank.
Some of my photos have come out pretty well considering- I can't take any credit for them, It's sheer luck (Especially as I couldn't really see what I was photographing very well).

So, here, for your enjoyment and perusal are my fish eye roulette photos:
(I did better than last time, when I just followed Traff about taking photos which made his bum look massive- So I'm improving!)

After my mooch around outside I came home and put dinner on. Traff went to the shop before I was up this morning and got potatoes so that we can have jacket spuds for tea- I swear one of them is the same size as my head so it may need a few days to cook properly. When he said they'd need more than 2 hours I thought he was winding me up.
Whilst I'm pretending to be a responsible adult and make dinner, I plan to read a bit more of my book Abi bought me for xmas.
Fanny and Stella by Neil McKenna

It's pretty good- A much easier read than I was expecting and far more light hearted. I will be attempting to get the phrase "The bum slap polka" into normal conversations.
It wouldn't usually have been my choice of book- Abi and I both had a bit of a victorian obsession. If it was a Venn diagram- her circle is sex as taboo, childbirth and women's issues. My circle would be attitudes to death, fashions and eccentricity - with the middle bit being attitudes to Women and Womens' history. Normally my remit does not include drag queens.
I may have to start to make an exception.

Anyway, Here is my soundtrack to cooking potatoes and reading about sodomites:

2014 survey

1. What did you do in 2014 that you had never done before?

I visited Malaysia,  learned to crochet, Tried my hand at Glass fusion and sewing from some pretty tricky patterns.

2. Did you keep your new years resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I have made 12 resolutions for 2015- that is one new thing to try and do/ to work on every month of the year. 

1) Try to eat vegetarian at home- I do struggle with my will power when eating out- but at home it wouldn't kill me to up my veggie intake.

2) Learn some Malay- I don't expect to be fluent by next year but I'd like to be able to greet people or order something!

3) Keep going with the healthy diet and lifestyle stuff (Keeping number 1 will greatly help with number 3!).

4) Keep in touch better with old friends- I never moved back to my hometown after university, and I went to College instead of 6th form as I couldn't take any more of the Girls' School- So I've definitely drifted.

This year will mark 10 years of finishing Secondary school. So I guess it's now or never...

The only one I failed at number 2- but I did put the CD on the computer so sometimes when I'm listening to Itunes I get random learning malay tracks...

3. How will you be spending your new years eve?

We went out for dinner- then came home and played retro sega games until the midnight fireworks were on the TV! in fairness, we had thought Traff was at work on new wears day so hadn't planned anything- we only found out on the 30th that he was off.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully no.

5. What countries did you visit?

Malaysia and Germany- and Wales, of course.

6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?

More travel! And more weekends with my friends- I've managed to get to Wales once a month for the whole year- which is pretty good- now I just need a system for Oxfordshire too! going up to Wales means I get to pop i and see my parents on the sunday on my way back too- so that's been really good to see them a bit more.

7. What date from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
I've done so much cool stuff this year I can't name one specific date- this has been a good year- probably our best year in Bedfordshire- and the best for seeing people since we've moved- we're getting there!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Taking up kick boxing, Getting a promotion at work- all good stuff! I'm proud of myself for my commitment to work, but also for managing a teeny bit of work life balance- Something for me to continue to work on in 2015.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I'm not sure I had any "failures"- not anything that was such a complete disaster I couldn't learn from it- probably the number of nights I've left work at 7pm or later this year! but it paid off, so I can't complain too much.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

yes, but I've been on the mend for a while now- long may it continue!

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Guitar hero! soooo many hours of joy and pleasure. and shouting. lots of shouting.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Our Malaysian holiday- but it was money very well spent as we had an awesome time, and got to see Randi and Stu too.

13. What song will always remind you of 2014?

Warpaint- Baby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AedHv7geXcU

14. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Chilling out at home. I get to carried away with "making the most" of my time that sometimes I forget that just having a quite weekend at home with no plans and a lie in is pretty therapeutic.

15. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Less paperwork and late nights for work!

16. What was you favourite TV programme?

Sons of Anarchy- we neet to get on with watching it! we're on season 3 so no-one is to ruin it for me- I really want to see the new season with Courtney love and Marilyn Manson in.

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

No, I don’t hate anyone, it's a massive waste of energy.

18. What was the best book you read?

Longbourn! it's the story of pride and prejudice told from the servants point of view- Pandering to my complete love of pride and prejudice. :D

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AedHv7geXcU
Courtesy of Tristrum.

20. What was your favorite film of this year?

Transformers! Optimus prime! 

21. What did you do on your birthday?

Drank too much wine and went paddle boarding. A really nice chilled out few days with mates and with Traff was just was I needed after a crazy few weeks at work. 

22. What kept you sane?

Tea. Traff. Tristypants, Hayley, Jay, Kirstie, Sah, Good music. Paddle boarding (Floating about on a lake is very de-stesssing), Kick boxing...

..and Cake when all else failed. 

23. Who did you miss?

I miss all my friends who live far away :( Realistically, we probably spend more "quality time" together because of the distance- but it would be nice to be there for my friends a bit more in person, and it'd be nice to be able to have a cup of tea and unwind rather than spending whole evenings glued to my phone or FB messenger.

24. Who was the best new person that you met?

Jenni, who is my new work colleague. 

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson that you learned in 2014?

Don't leave your debit card in the petrol pump?

I have no idea what the year 2015 will bring but I hope that with a positive attitude and determination it will be a great year. I am excited for the future!

My 2015 new years resoluations

These are taken from the list I posted from buzzfeed on 30th December- I just cut it down to 12 I really need to make sure I do!

I'll try and review my list and mark the ones I've met- so it'll be a good challenge for me.

1.   Stop dieting: Just eat more fruit and veg and drink a ton of water.

2.   Learn to reshuffle your schedule so you have more time for creative projects, and make sure you finish those projects.

3.   Pick a European city to visit this year.

4.   Give more compliments.

5.   Meet up with friends more often- Try not to go more than 6 months without seeing someone you care about.

6.   Clear out all the clutter in your home

7.   Try a food you’ve never eaten before.

8.   Frame treasured photos, letters and keepsakes.

9.   Treat your parents to dinner.

10.       Walk to places more often.

11.       Learn to use Excel properly.

12.       Invest in matching underwear.