Due to my lack of ability to stay organised, I usually miss out on seasonal posts. At the start of the year I don’t talk about my favorite things of the previous year like most bloggers, mainly because I’m so stuffed full of Christmas dinner and New years party food that I can’t roll off the sofa let alone make my brain work enough to write a post. I’m also not a big buyer, so I don’t have enough new things to do a monthly favorites post either.
However, its half way through the year, I’m not a human turkey and I’ve accumulated enough things in these past six months that I really like. So I’ve spent the day confusing my family by taking photos of random objects and I’m bundling it all into a post for you guys.
Don’t worry, none of things things are sponsored (non of the companies who made these things even know I exist) so all of things bellow I honestly like and would recommend to my family and friend simply because they’re awesome. So here are my top 5 things of 2018…so far.
My Favorite stationary
It shouldn’t come much of a surprise to hear that I am a tad stationary obsessed. It doesn’t matter if it’s for college, my bullet journal or just day-to-day use, I love buying new stationary and will always think of a reason that I need more. So when I saw these Stabilo Boss original pastel highlighters I automatically fell in love with them. They had been constantly popping up on my Instagram feed and I was sold after seeing their colors.
Being dyslexic and suffering from visual stress I can sometimes struggle with bright highlighters. Some colors make things worse for me and it’s just not been ideal at college this year. But I can really recommend these, the colors are crisp, don’t bleed through paper and stand out on my page. It doesn’t matter if I use every color on one sheet, the colors don’t all merge into a fluorescent page, but instead I can clearly see the difference between the colors.
My favorite book
There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt that this would be my favorite read so far this year. Stronger than the struggle by Havilah Cunnington has been an eye-opening, enjoyable book to sit down with and I would recommend it to anyone with a belief in God.
It’s about spiritual warfare (I can almost hear some of your eyebrows raising in judgement, but hear me out) and not the overpowering scary version that you sometimes hear. This book really cuts through some of the scariness and confusion of spiritual warfare. I’m fortunate to have it explained by my parent at some point, so it doesn’t scare me. Yet despite being told about it, it felt like a taboo subject. I didn’t understand how people could possibly tell the difference between God putting challenges in front of you so you can grow, you coming across difficulty because we didn’t listen to God’s way therefore facing the consequences and Satan actually attacking you.
Not only does this book shine the light on the myths and debunk the wrong ideas we have about it, but it also uses some pretty powerful accounts from the authors own life. It was such a good book that I’m going to re read it and make notes this time, because there were some really powerful messages in there.
My favorite lifestyle purchase
For an unknown reason to me, I’ve started caring about the environment a lot more since the start of the year. It wasn’t a new years resolution to be more environmentally friendly this year but it’s started to happen anyway.
One of those ways was to reduce the number of plastic waste I produced, especially at college as we don’t have recycling bins, was to get a durable water bottle. I suddenly became so aware of how many plastic bottles I was throwing in the bin per week (anywhere from 6-10). Not only was it bad for the environment but it was also bad for my wallet as I was buying bottles of water everyday and all those 80p purchases build up over the year. So I brought my MANNA water bottle.
The fact that this bottle is so pretty wasn’t the only reason I brought it. It also has a seal in the lid to make it spill/ leek proof and it can keep cold drinks cool for 24hr and hot ones hot for 12hrs. I’ve personally never tried hot drinks in there as I’ll have to clean it out at college and that’s a hassle, but I can say it keeps it cool.
I’m so glad I brought it, I’ve saved money in the long run and I’ve reduced the number of waste I’ve made at college. I’m now getting irritated at how many plastic knives and forks I go through there so I might invest in some bamboo cutlery next.
My favorite bible verse
Weirdly it’s rare I have a favorite verse. I tend to find that a certain passage will speak to me briefly before it loses it’s relevance for that part of my life and I find a new one. However Colossians 1:23 has stuck with me for a while now, more specifically the bit that says “Do not move from the hope held out in the Gospel”.
This verse has stuck quiet powerful for me. I tend to drift away from my bible and the amazing (and real stories in there). Often I find myself losing hope and asking God to help me find some. This verse reminds me to stay rooted in the Gospel and keep reading the word of God because hope is found in there.
My favorite procrastination tool
Yes I know I’m a little slow with the whole Nintendo Switch thing but I’m a student and it’s not like I could just buy one of this bad boys straight away. I had to do some serious saving to get one. But saved I did and now I’m a happy owner of a Switch and man I love it.
It’s no shock that my favorite game so far is The legend of Zelda breath of the wild. Well, it was a bit of a shock to me. I had very little intention to buy this game (no idea why) and it was my fantastic boyfriend who convinced me to get it (as in they went to Argos with me to get it after an intense session of pester power). So I have them to thank for the amount of time I’ve spent procrastinating and playing instead of doing my assignments. But in all seriousness, this game is ace.
Be warned though, don’t get this game if it’s coming to the end of college (or school) where you have a load of exam or assignments. You’ll find yourself loving it so much that your work will take a back burner.
There you are, those were my 5 favorite things of 2018 so far. I’m not sure if I’m gong to be able to find anything to top any of the things of my list (especially not Zelda, I love that game) but I’m going to stay optimistic.
What’s your favorite thing of the year so far?
Lost in the Story 
Please read my first post.
LikeLike