Keeping ourselves safe, happy and healthy at home!
As a team of busy event organisers going into lockdown was a very strange experience, what would we do with all of this new time on our hands? Well, we didn’t sit still for long…
Penny has been busy home-schooling her lovely 9 year old daughter but has also managed to fit in some jogs around her local village, which she is really starting to enjoy. Penny has also been experimenting with recipes from The Clever Guts Diet and has been celebrating 25 years of First Choice Conference & Events at home with her hubby Ian and some bubbly! Have you seen where the company began, visit our history page to read all about our journey!
Ian has also been home-schooling, they are particularly enjoying maths with Carol Vordeman! As well as home-schooling Ian has been running online natural mindfulness training courses with great success.
Whilst home schooling Dan has had the realisation that 6-year-old Albie is just as good at teaching 4 year old Lowenna as he is – if not better! so they have divided up the teaching responsibilities! Dan has also discovered three amazing spots almost on their doorstep that are perfect to entertain the kids in the woods, whilst also enjoying a stream on the sunny days and an awesome view.
Super-mum Cheryl has been busy with her excitable little boy Zane, running lots of different themed days such as pirate day and fairground day in their garden which she has enjoyed just as much as Zane has! As a family they have also been out and about exploring the forests and climbing trees – who needs soft play!
For Laura lockdown has meant an extra pair of hands to look after new baby Ciarán as Laura’s hubby Carl is at home too. They have been going out for lots of long family walks (with their adorable beagle bailey too), have been spending more time in the garden and little Ciarán can also now crawl! Laura is also very happy to now be growing 11 different veggies in the garden, her best year yet!
Magdalen is the office health guru and lockdown has allowed Magdalen to do even more exercise! She has been running 3 times a week (average of 20km a week) and is on her 3rd 30-day yoga challenge! This is on top of online fitness classes, weights, ballet and circuit classes outside in the sun. Magdalen has also been foraging as much as possible with the kids, so far they have made wild garlic pesto and nettle soup and elderflower fritters!
Alongside working, Heather has been enjoying lockdown by going on walks with her Cavachon pup Walt, doing heaps of quiz nights on Zoom and laying a patio in her garden. She has also enjoyed having the time to read some great books in the sunshine and has been practicing with her weighted hula-hoop, she can now do 20 minutes non-stop without it falling, with is much better than when she started!
Ross has spent lockdown doing a rota of yoga, meditation and running with a minimum 3-mile walk every single day. He’s also taken on gardening for an elderly neighbour and has managed to restore all of her wilting flowers and plants. Ross has been staying positive and has been focusing on R&R time to himself and socially distanced catchups with his nearest and dearest.
Katie has been busy painting and glossing everything in her house, and completing lots of DIY odd jobs, becoming somewhat of a pro with the tools! She also completed a 30-day course to learn to do the splits so is feeling much more flexible and has started her latest project which is building a herb garden! If that’s not enough Katie has also completed a financial markets course from Yale University on Coursera!
Polly has been deep in DIY as her family have sold their house and are busy building their next one, which thanks to the extra time during lock-down is almost done and ready to move-in to by the end of June. Polly has also been doing a Business Administration course and has been focusing on her health by aiming to work out 5 times a week and by eating healthier.
Ele has been keeping busy by volunteering at her local primary school! At the beginning of lockdown she was delivering school meals and resources to the children who were not attending school, now they are all back she is helping a lovely lady in her village with her weekly shops and picking up anything else she needed like prescriptions or house-hold items, Ele will continue to do this until the lady is able to leave the house herself. When she’s not volunteering Ele has been baking, going for walks, doing home workout sessions, painted the garden, lots of home DIY AND (if that wasn’t enough!!) has enrolled on a Business Administration short course, which she is really excited to receive her certificate for.
Kate has spent lockdown unearthing her garden from the jungle it has become and is very pleased it is now ready to have visitors in it (socially distanced off-course!) She has also walked at least 10,000 steps for 108 days straight now, allowing her to continue her high cake and biscuit intake – go Kate!
Karen has been busy home-schooling her lovely girls, baking, decorating the house, working on her garden and building a shed! She has also been discovering lots of new routes locally on bike rides and has been on non-stop Zoom calls with family and friends.
During our time though each and everyone of us has missed our amazing clients and industry colleagues, we would love to hear what you have been getting up to too.
