1. I’ve accumulated many nicknames throughout the years, some self-evident and others not so obvious: Toodle pip, Bambi, Scamper, Trouble, Rebel child, Foghorn lil, Bat ears, Ray of Sunshine, Chantelligence, Hughie, pick-a-nose, Cong, Chaunts, Chanty, Chaunster, Gnasher…
2. I have a twin brother who I trust, respect and adore and who never fails to make me laugh
3. I feel fortunate to be extremely loved and supported by both my parents, even if we disagree on a quite a few things
4. When I was younger, I came back from school one day and informed my Mum I had met two friends, one called Celery, the other called Zebra. It took a while before she realised they were Hilary and Debra
5. I try to keep an open mind about things, judge less and don’t take myself too seriously
6. I regularly mishear song lyrics, for example I thought Bob Marley’s song Exodus was saying ‘Pixie dust’
7. When I was younger I used to daydream about Avril Lavigne coming to my class and us singing a song about skiing- and it being cool and different because all other mainstream songs are just about love
8. Scott and I cried when watching an animated Christian version of the Christmas Story when we were younger because we didn’t know what happened to the Donkey at the end
9. I used to write all the time when I was younger, and would get support from teachers on my writing. Scott and I wrote Angelina the Ballerina series with him doing the illustrations, me as the author, and I would also write family stories for when we got together as a family
10. My cousins and I used to have a band (just for playing to parents and relatives). We thought we were really cool and heavy metal despite none of our songs being particularly heavy and so called ourselves Strings of Blood (Scott on the guitar), Hell caller (me singing), and I can’t remember the other names but you get the picture…
11. At high school I won the happiest person award in the yearbook and most likely to become a millionaire
12. I know what it’s like to lose your mind, in multiple different ways
13. COVID crossed my blood-brain barrier, inflaming my brain, a condition known as viral encephalitis
14. I much prefer reading a book to watching tv
15. I once came face-to-face with a Boa constrictor in a bat’s cave in the Amazon in Ecuador
16. I have a tattoo of the serpent and elephant from le petit prince and I really want to get another tattoo of a sun to remind me to stay positive, like a ray of sunshine
17. I love my independence and would call myself a free spirit when I’m at my best
18. I hate air conditioning, ticking clocks and cooked spinach, especially if cooked frozen spinach
19. My teeth chatter really easily, within about a five minutes of being cold
20. I’m passionate about mental health, language and international development
21. I also passionately believe pencils without rubbers should be banned
22. I have been meditating every day for over two months now after being inspired by one of my close friends while on holiday
23. On the day of writing this, I have I have 910 notes on my iphone
24. I’m a natural hoarder and struggle to throw things away
25. I am obsessed with languages. I speak Spanish fluently, intermediate French and Portuguese and beginner Italian!
26. I used to say I’d never ever learn Spanish because Scott’s accent was so horrible and he would incessantly repeat this one phrase from a Michel Thomas recording with added emphasis so it sounded like: ‘no es aceptaaaable para uuuusted así’
27. I feel most free when swimming topless in the sea
28. My last meal would be a battered sausage and chips
29. It’s my lifelong goal to write a book. I’m trying to write a memoir now
30. At some point in my life I want to live within walking distance of a beach, ideally with sand dunes
