friends & food

I've said it once, and I'll say it again....I have some amazing friends. Friends that live close to me, friends that I see every week, friends that I have lived with, friends that live thousands of miles away across the pond...ahh I love them all.

Yesterday I got a lovely Christmas card from one of beautiful friends who lives in Canada and it made my day. Today I'm posting all my Christmas cards and letter to America/Canada (...I know, they are totally going to be a bit late in getting to them seeing as Christmas is next week, my bad!).

I'm so excited to hang out with my friends over the next two weeks during the Christmas/New Year season...OK, so I don't actually know just how much time I'll actually get to see them, Christmas is a pretty busy time of year...but it also a very food filled time of year...and friends + food = good combination, hahah!

And I'm blessed to have a job which always guarantees me Christmas day and boxing day off...perfect. Better than that in fact, I have the next 6 days off....SIX DAYS! And I only had to use 6 hours of my annual leave to get this....yesssssss :) Very excited for the next two weeks. Bring on the food and banter. 

Revelation Song

Worthy is the, 

Lamb who was slain

Holy, Holy, is He

Sing a new song, to Him who sits on

Heaven's Mercy Seat

Clothed in rainbows, of living color

Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder

Blessing and honor, strength and

Glory and power be

To You the Only Wise King! 

Filled with wonder, 

Awestruck wonder

At the mention of Your Name

Jesus, Your Name is Power

Breath, and Living Water

Such a marvelous mystery

Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come, 

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of Kings! 

You are my everything, 

And I will adore You!

Ottoman

A few months back my Granddad and Grandma moved out of their farm house and into a little bungalow. A few of us went to go help them pack up some things and move them to their new place. 

As we were packing up all their things we came across toys that we used to remember playing with when we went to visit. We found my aunties old wedding dress which I tried on (....absolutely hilarious!). We found old photo's of my Granddad and Grandma, and of all my aunties and uncles as they were growing up (there were some serious hair styles going down back then). It was like talking a trip down memory lane.

Along with all these fun memories, and cool things that Grandma had collected over the many year they had lived there, there was also a LOT of junk. It's kind of crazy how much you can accumulate over the years! Thank goodness bonfire night was coming up when we did this...it was a decent bonfire once all the junk was piled up! I was kind of keeping my eye out as we were packing up all the things for a good find...something old that was going to be chucked that I could maybe bring back to life...and I found this...A very old, and very tatty and worn, ottoman...

And so this ottoman was added onto my 'project list'. I have to admit, it sat in the extension for a little while. I tend to get there project ideas, get all excited about them, buy all the supplies, do a little bit of work on them...and then leave it for a few weeks unfinished. But I just got round to finishing off this one! ...well, I think I might add a few finishing touches at some point, but for now I'm pretty impressed.

OK, so maybe it isn't the most professional of finishes, but still, I'm kinda proud of my little ottoman. 

annual leave

Today is the last day of my annual leave off work...and its been bliss!

What have I done with all my time off I hear you ask?! ...To be honest, not all that much! I've caught up with sleep and life. My room was cleaned, and then re-cleaned, and then tidied once more (turns out I cant keep my room tidy anymore, I'm turning into a slightly messy person!). I did a little bit of Christmas shopping, little being the operative word there as I came home with more for myself then for other people, whoops. Myself and 2 of my close friends went on a girly date, heading out for a meal then catch up with Mr Bond. And we also went to pack some shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Shoebox appeal. Possibly THE most addictive charity activity ever. Defo going to do that again next year. And thats about it. That's a weeks worth of activities right there.

But tomorrow I'm back to it again, back to early mornings and the long commute to work. But I feel like the next few weeks are going to go by pretty fast...the run up to Christmas always does go kinda fast right!? It'll be here before we know it! And I have a few exciting things coming up too! Next weekend I'm going away to Liverpool to see Michael McIntyre which should be hilarious...not just his show, but the general banter of the group I'm going with. Christmas shopping and crafty-ness...kinda already started making some presents this week! I LOVE being crafty....thank you pintrest for all the inspirational ideas, I've never been so excited to get making things. Christmas youth group socials/games nights...these are always SO much fun.

Even though work starts again for me, and I don't know when my next bit of time off will be, I'm kinda looking forward to the coming few weeks.

Wait...as I type this the Coke-a-Cola Christmas advert has just come on TV...Yep, Christmas is DEFIANTLY on its way now. 

mission praise 436

A few weeks ago (well, a good few weeks ago actually) we sung this some at church  I'd never heard of it before, but as we sung it I was like, wow, these words are awesome. 

I feel like I have a love hate relationship with these old type hymns that we sing at church. Some of them I just don't really like singing; I don't know...they feel too 'old' sometimes. And there are always like a billion sharps in the key which make them a flipping nightmare to play on the piano!

But some of them, like this one, are simply great. Classic hymns which I think we will be singing decades down the line. When I have my 'piano days', where all I want to do is sit down and press the keys and make some music, I'm starting to open my mission praise music book in the first half where all the old hymns are. And I'm finding some great classic songs; I've forgotten how great some of them are... And Can It Be, O Lord My God, Be Thou My Vision... yeah, these can be pretty tough to play, but I LOVE THEM. The words are awesome. And they are songs you just want to sing at the top of your voice.

As much as I love some of the new worship songs we have these days, I don't think you can beat a good classic traditional hymn. 

And mission praise number 436 is now one of my new favorites... 

Lord make me a mountain, standing tall for You

Strong and free and holy, in everything I do

Lord make me a river, of water pure and sweet

Lord make me the servant of ev^'ryone I meet

Lord make me a candle shining with your light

Steadfastly unflickering standing for the right

Lord make me a fire burning strong for You

Lord make me humble in ev'rything I do

Lord make me a mountain, strong and tall for you

Lord make me a fountain of water clear and new

Lord make me a shepherd that I may feed Your sheep

Lord make me the servant of ev'ryone I meet

empty month.

It's true, I've totally failed at blogging this month. And it's not even like I've not had time, because I kinda have.

Next month I'll try harder, I promise.

october

Winter coats

Winter boots

Crisp air

Flushed cheeks

Warm fires

Hot Chocolate

Dark nights

Dark mornings

Orange trees

Rain

Cold

Harvest

Crunchy leaves

Snuggly jumpers

Slippers

Conkers

Warm bed

Christmas around the corner

Yeah, there are some down sides mixed into Autumn. But lets embrace them.

LOVE

seasons

Exactly one year ago today I was arriving at Bodenseehof, with a suitcase full to bursting with things, and so much excitement and nervousness about what the 6 months ahead of me held. I seriously cant believe that it was a whole year ago. 12 whole months ago. 366 days ago! (...yes, I know there are 365 days in a normal year, but this year was a leap year remember!? I just Googled it to double check!) I seriously can't believe just how fast time goes.

This weekend has been a funny one. Walking to work yesterday I noticed for the first time this year that autumn truly is around the corner. As I crossed the road to work there were golden brown, crispy leaves under the big chestnut tree. It's defiantly getting colder out there, and the autumn feeling is in the air. 

A new season is upon us once again. I remember last year in about October time posting on how autumn has turned into my favorite season. ...And for some reason I started thinking about seasons. Not just like spring, summer, autumn and winter. More the seasons that we go through in life.

I'm realizing I'm guilty of always wanting to rush into the next big thing in life. I finish school and I'm ready for university. I counted down the days until I went to Germany for months beforehand. And once I got home, I got caught up in trying to get a job...But, I'm also very guilty of getting a little stuck in the things that have already been. For instance, I go though phases of missing Germany so bad. 

I wonder if I get so caught up either missing things that have already been and gone, or looking forward to things that aren't here yet, that I'm not fully enjoying or making the most of the now. I so often complain to God for things to come faster, that I miss thanking Him for the things that are happening at the moment, and the ways which I can serve Him now. Maybe its because I see others entering new seasons that I'm not, I start to think and wonder what God has in store for me next and why it can't come faster. 

I saw a picture on pintrest the other week that said something like 'while your waiting for God to open the next door, don't forget to praise Him in the corridor'. That's exactly what I'm forgetting to do.  

'To everything there is a season, a time fore every purpose under heaven...He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end' (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11).

My bible notes on these verses say how timing is important; how there is a secret to peace that is found when we discover, accept, and appreciate God's perfect timing. Good things sometimes have to come to an end to allow for something new to begin. Sometimes new thing can take an age to come around, but His timing perfect. But we should always thank Him for where we are right now, because if we are following His will, we are exactly where He wants us to be. 

(....on a totally off topic side note I've had to come and add something to the bottom of this post because: this is my 100th one! I've officially blogged 100 times. I felt this was another milestone that needed recording. Haha!)

-

" In light of what Christ did for us at the cross, how can any sacrifice for Him be too extreme? "

- Lesley Ludy. 

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not rear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

One thing I ask of the Lord, and this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

9:13pm

Last night I was tucked up in bed and heading to the land of nod by 9:13pm.

I think I'm getting old.

Note to self:

Note to self: Stop racing to the next moment. Use the moment that you're in and enjoy the ride.

not so white

OK, so agggges ago when I got home from Germany I remember writing here how I had literally nothing planned in front of me. My life was a blank page ahead of me...I had no clue what step to make in terms on my career, I had zero summer plans, I didn't know which church to go to... I had no clue which direction I was heading, or what was around the corner.

And now, almost a good 6 months later, I can say that my white sheet of paper isn't so plain anymore.

Thinking back over the last 5 months is kind of odd. At the time, I felt as though I was going nowhere and seeming to gain nothing. But now, when I look back, actually a ton of stuff happened...

- I slotted right back into my old waitressing job which I LOVE.
- I went to Ambleside with my girl friends, and while we were there got asked to be maid of honor for my best friend.
- I started going to the church in the village next to me.
- I played in the Sportsreach annual netball tournament, the first time I'd played in a year pretty much. I was a tad stiff the next day!
- I went to Keswick Christian Convention...such a great week.
- Myself and the other bridesmaids went on two, slightly jam packed, dress shopping days before finally deciding on the perfect bridesmaid dress. So flipping stoked to wear this dress, it's stunning.
- We surprised my best friend by taking her to Northern Ireland for 4 days... possibly the highlight of the summer for me so far.
- I applied for numerous nursing and non nursing jobs. After turning down a job I just didn't feel right, I then had as string of nursing interviews, all of which I got turned down by until after the final interview I had lined up offered me a job. And out of all of the interviews I had, that one one of the top ones I wanted.

When I look forwards and backwards in my life I can totally see God hand at work.

Looking back I can see how He has been faithful to me these past few months. Life post Bible school had at times been pretty tough going, and I have often had the 'post bible school blues'. Sometimes I felt as though I was doing nothing, going nowhere...but actually God had it all in hand. He provided me with a very flexible part time job which I love until He blessed me with this nursing job. He has provided me with awesome friends to support and love me, and to keep me company as I waited for God to tell me what to do next!!

And when I look forward I'm starting to get hints of the plans He has for me. OK, so most of them I still have zero clue about, but I know He will give me directions where to turn as and when I need them.

All in all, life is good. I'm totally papping myself about starting this new job next week, but I know He is with me, so I'll be fine...right!? Still pretty nervous though :/

stamps

Letters from my North American buddies make my day :)

Yes

"For you are my lamp, O Lord;

The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.

For by you I can run against a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His was is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

For who is God, except the Lord?

And who is a rock except our God?

God is my strength and power,

And he makes my way perfect.

He makes my feet like the feet of the deer,

He sets my feet on high places"

- 2 Samuel 22: 29-34

Banana Solutions

Problem... 10 rotting bananas and only one person in the house who eats bananas.

Solution... Banana Loaf.

Do you have a banana problem in your house too!? This recipe might help...

You will need...

270g of soft brown sugar

2 eggs

200g of mashed bananas

280g plain flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of bicarb of soda

1 teaspoon of cinnamon (I got to use the cinnamon that I got from Zanzibar for the first time!)

140g of butter (melted)

What you do...

1. Pop your oven onto 170*C

2. Beat the eggs and sugar together until nice and smooth

3. Beat in the mashed bananas

4. Add flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, and cinnamon to the mixture and beat until well combined

5. Pour in the butter and mix well again.

6. Put the mixture into a loaf tin and pop it in the oven for around an hour

LOVE this song

When I think about the Lord, 
how He saved me,
how He raised me,
how He filled me with the Hold Ghost,
how He healed me to the uttermost.

When I think about the Lord,
how He picked me up, turned me around,
how He set my feet on solid ground.

It makes me what to shout Hallelujah!
Thank you Jesus!
Lord you're worthy of all the glory, and all the honor, and all the praise.
Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!
Lord you're worthy of all the glory, and all the honor, and all the praise.

Shane & Shane

femininity

"When Christ overtakes a woman's life and transforms her from the inside out, she becomes truly feminine - a picture of elegance, grace, and loveliness blended with sacrificial selfless devotion to her King"

-Lesley Ludy

Psalm 37:3-7

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires on your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do this. 

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of you cause like the noonday sun. 

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. 

modesty

"I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God"

- 1 Timothy 2:9

"She is clothed in strength and dignity"

- Proverbs 31:25

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

- Matthew 5:27-28

I feel like God has been putting the subject of modesty on my heart recently, and I want to share with you some reminders that he had given me over the past few months, and some things that he has taught me from scratch. 

We live in a world where modesty has kind of gone out of the window. I read an article written by this guy on the subject of modesty and he titled it "The death of Pretty". He defined pretty as projecting beauty in innocence and virtue. But no longer to girls want to be pretty; they want to be 'hot'. Now, hot projects somethings TOTALLY different. He writes,. 'pretty inspires men’s nobler instincts to protect and defend.  Pretty is cherished. Hotness, on the other hand, is a commodity.  Its value is temporary and must be used.  It is a consumable'. 

I also stumbled across another guys blog, who was just so honest in his writing about this. (I'll directly quote him a few times here, but I'd encourage you to read the whole thing. It's pretty eye opening. I'll put a link at the end of this post.)

"Many women dress appropriately, and to those I say bravo.  But at the risk of being overly negative, I want to address the problem of immodesty.  Unfortunately, many women today don't know what modesty is..." 

"Immodesty can be put in perspective when women understand the stronghold that lust and pornography have on men today.  The pornography industry in the United States rakes in 12 billion dollars a year.  Surveys taken by Promise Keepers, Focus on the Family, Insight for Living, and other reputable Christian organizations show about half of the male respondents indicated they've viewed porn within the past few months.  Did you get that?  If this statistic is correct, five of 10 men you see in church have looked at porn recently..."

"Men who want to stay pure are finding impurity pursuing them."

I honesty don't think us girls realize the value in dressing modest. Do we even know what modest is anymore? We are surrounded  by worldly fashions which aren't really the shining example of how to be modest woman. The world tells us "if you've got it, flaunt it". Fashion gives us short shorts, short skirts, cropped tops, low rise jeans...I feel like we are slowly forgetting to even check if what we are wearing is appropriate because we are so blinded with the world and following its trends.

And when it come to the reason for modesty, do we even know why as Christian girls we should be careful what we wear? Honestly, I don't think we do.

If I'm honest, I've only really learnt in the past 8-9 months. I remember getting my acceptance letter from Bible School, and a few weeks later I received another letter which told me of the schools 'code of conduct'. It told me what the school expects from me, and what its values are. Like how they ask us not to drink or smoke during our time there etc etc...and it had a separate section on a dress code. I was like, 'Pffft, a dress code?! Are you serious?! I'm not allowed to wear shorts or a skirt that are above the knee? I'm not allowed to wear a strappy top? What the heck, this is ridicules!'. Looking back now I feel so ignorant. I had no clue really why they asked this of us. I mean, I knew they wanted us to me modest, but I didn't really know WHY.

During my time there, living with great christian guys I started to learn why. I truly appreciated they brutal honesty when they talked to us about what it was like being a Christian guy; the temptations and struggles that they go through every day. The quotes above from that guys blog put it really well too. I don't think us ladies appreciate how hard it can be for guys.

We are told to love and encourage one another in the bible right? If we are wearing an outfit which could distract guys, how are we encouraging them in Christ? We're not. Are we not instead encouraging them and tempting them into worldly lusts and temptations? If we love them, we should help them in this area. Think twice as we are deciding on our outfit for the day.

Please don't think that I'm all set on this area; that I have dressing well down to a T, because I don't. Sometimes I'm just as bad as the next girl when it comes to my wardrobe choice, it's something I'm trying to work on. I don't know about you, but I would much rather be described as a pretty girl than a hot one.

Sorry this post has gotten so long.I guess I just want to encourage you girls reading this to please think about how you dress.I'll just finish with a quote by John MacArthur who sums up quite nicely, and much more concisely, what I've just said.

"How does a woman discern the sometimes fine line between proper dress and dressing to be the center of attention? The answer starts in the intent of the heart. A woman should examine her motives and goals for the way she dresses. Is her intent to show the grace and beauty of womanhood? Is it to reveal a humble heart devoted to worshipping God? Or is it to call attention to herself and flaunt her beauty? Or worse, to attempt to lure men sexually? A woman who focuses on worshipping God will consider carefully how she is dressed, because her heart will dictate her wardrobe and appearance"

Some good reads:

For the link to the guys blog I quoted a few times click HERE

This one is a girl's blog who has a few posts on 'the heart of modesty'. 

yummy, chocolaty, goodness

You know that feeling when you just what to bake. Create something yummy and then enjoy eating it. Well the other day I had that exact feeling. 


A friend made these flipping gorgeous brownies for me and my housemates a few years back when we were at university, and I remember asking for the recipe. She'd emailed it to us, but until 2 days ago this recipe had been sitting in the documents of my laptop, not being anything more than a typed page. 


And so when I got this desire just to bake something, I decided to root out this brownie recipe and give it a go. And not to big myself up or anything, but my end product was pretty darn good! ...and that's even after I forgot to put in the extra chocolate drops and nuts (whoops!). The tin is pretty much empty now...or at least it will be as soon as I finish this post because I'm going to go and eat the last piece!

For those of you who love to bake I thought I'd pop the recipe on here for you...enjoy :)


Stuff you'll need:

90g (3oz) plain chocolate (I used normal milk chocolate)
150g (5oz) butter & extra for greasing
125g (4oz) plain flour
15g (1/2oz) coco powder
300g (10oz) soft light brown sugar (I just used granulated because we had no soft brown sugar in the house!)
1 pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 tea sp of vanilla extract/ essence
½ table sp baking powder
100g Chocolate chips (you could use nuts instead of choc chips if you prefer)


What you need to do:
1. Preheat oven to 180oc (350 F/ Gas mark 4). Grease & line baking tine with grease proof paper 
2. Break chocolate into a bowl & add the butter, Melt the butter & chocolate over a sauce pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove and allow chocolate to cool slightly. Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl. 4. In a third bowl beat the eggs, then add sugar and vanilla extract. Stir the ingredients until just combined.
5. Fold the beaten chocolate into the beaten egg mixture. Then fold the flour mixture in, there should be no lumps. Fold in the extra chocolate chips or nuts at this point too.
6. Put the mixture into the tin, smooth top & bake for 25minutes. It sometimes takes longer so check using a knife and make sure it comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
8. Make a brew. Grab some brownie. Sit down, relax, and enjoy.

simple fun

Yesterday was simply a great day. A day filled with some much needed laughter.

I met up with some of my friends and helped out looking after a little boy that one of my friends babysits for a day every two weeks. This little bot is the funniest 3 year old I have ever met. He just comes out with some classic lines that have us all in stitches.

So anyways, the day started playing 'total wipe out' in my friends front room on a course that they had designed (and I'd like to say at this point that I did in fact complete the course, the first adult to do so might I add!!). We then went swimming, took him out for some lunch, went to the park, played cards, ate ice cream...ahhh, simply a fun day.

In the evening we met up with some more cool people and went bowling. A few strikes (...and a few missed shots) we went for some food at McDonald's, and then headed into town for a drink and a game of pool.

I love these kind of days. Where you do nothing particular special, but where the people that you are with make it special.Yesterday I did nothing new. I mean, I've been bowling and swimming a ton of times. And Asda cafe and McDonald's aren't the classiest of places to eat. But who cares?! It's not the places that you go to, its the people who you are with.

I love how you don't have to spend a ton of money to have a good time. You don't need to do something out of the ordinary to enjoy your day. You can have good, honest, simple fun if you are with the right people. 

This post in a nutshell?...

I have GREAT friends. 

a spruce up

OK, I'm just going to give you a heads up that I'm going to be having a play around with my blog. I feel it needs a bit of sprucing up, like a (late) spring clean.

Please stand by while I do some experimenting on here.

:) 

Love is...

rain

Oh England. Well at least your consistent...consistently giving us naff weather.

Maybe I should emigrate to a better climate to get my summer fix, home just isn't hitting the spot right now. I've always fancied a trip to the land down under...I can hear the beaches calling my name now! Maybe one day Australia and I will meet :)

$5

Today I received a very nice card and $5. Obviously, right now this $5 is kind of useless to me. I mean, I don't think any shops here in England would accept it as a form of payment. 

However, they sure will in AMERICA! Only one solution then I guess, I'll go to America. And I plan on spending this $5 at a coffee shop with the beautiful girl who sent it to me :) Ahh, I'm excited for this trip. Hurry little savings pot and fill up please.

empty days

Remember a while back I blogged saying that my life seemed to be just too busy, that I was ready to just chill out for a day or too, have time to read, to blog, to go for a walk, to see my friends... well those days have now become far too frequent.

I'm finding myself home most days with little to do but sit and think about how I don't really have a job. OK, so I do have a part time job, but I'm not getting a ton of shifts, and they are all evening shifts, so therefore I'm home most days. And in all honesty, I'm bored of my Steph days.

I feel like all my time off is just wasted wallowing in boredom; flicking through tv channels not really watching anything, browsing though pintrest, or just reading away. My days feel very, well, empty. And because I'm not doing much I have less energy and motivation to do anything compared with when I was super busy. I'm craving busyness, but its just not coming. I feel really lazy, and I hate that.

C'mon job, I'm ready for you now...

blessed

Don't focus too much on the blessings that you don't have or you'll miss all the blessings that you do. 

365

In exactly a year today my best friend will be walking down the isle. SO excited for this day :)

Gosh I love this girl...

Don't be afraid to trust an unknown future with a known God.

one year (and a bit)

Woah, without even realizing I've reached my one year blogging mile stone! How the heck did that happen?! Time, where have you gone?!

patience...

Aby

The other day was my day off (well, one of my many days off at the moment!) and I was sat in the sitting room reading my book. During the days you always get those crappy phone calls right!? You know, those ones where you answer the phone and there is a 5 second delay at the other end before someone says 'hello, I'm calling from so and so and am ringing to let you know that you are entitled to £100000 in from the government...blah blah blah....'. So anyways, there I was reading away about the hunger games and the phone rings, and as soon as I answer I'm thinking, oh here we go, another sales call...

Well, I guess in some respects it was a sales call, but this one was a charity one. The lady on the phone was telling me about the injustice in the world. About children who are growing up in countries where there is no formal education, where there are serious lacks in the medical fields, where there sometimes isn't access to clean water. And I was like, dang, I'm so lucky to live in a country like England.

So I'd like to introduce you to Aby Lo, the 3 year old girl I'm sponsoring from Mpal, Senegal. It's through a charity called Plan (http://www.plan-uk.org/) who work with the local communities in various parts on the world to improve childrens health and education. They help communities prepare for natural disasters, and support them after they happen. They empower children to make decisions that will aid them in their future. They help enables families to develop a livelihood through things such as agricultural training.

More than just sending money to help Aby and her family along, I get to write to her and more importantly pray for her. We really are blessed in our developed countries aren't we?! But most of the time we don't ever realize it. I mean, since getting back from Germany I've kind of complained a lot. Not always out loud to people, but I've complained away to myself and to God. About my lack of job, about my lack of money, about how I don't get to see my friends as much as I'd like...complain complain complain. How selfish am I?! Here I am with a very comfy bed, with a roof over my head, with food and water, with part time work and some other job opportunities. Yet I complain away without even thinking about how fortunate I really am.

We soon forget don't we how blessed we are. Why should I complain when so many of God's children are in 3rd world countries and may not even know where there next meal will come from, or have no health care. Or children who are being persecuted for the gospel, or who have parents who are.

And so I'm going to try to complain less, and start praying for Aby!

hello sunshine

Sunglasses, shades, iced drinks, salads, books, flip flops, shorts, strappy tops, suncream, BBQs, sun kissed skin....

I can smell summer in the air. Finally.

-

May the odds be ever in your favour.


Thank you Suzanne Collins for that epic read.

Made in...yep, Chelsea!

Is it bad that I'm getting addicted to, no wait...I AM addicted to Made in Chelsea?! 

Ummm, probs, but you know what, I'm going to continue to feed this addiction.

Don't judge me.

Thank You Mr Postman

I swear I used to be a tidy person. But now, look at my room. It's an absolute pig-sty. And I've taken my 'to-do list' obsession to the next level and created myself a 'cleaning room plan of action' haha. As you can tell, I've got a long way so far. Not. But now I'm caffeinated, have Colbie Caillat in the background, and by the end of the day, this room WILL be clean. 

On another note, this morning I received not one, not two but three pieces of mail. One was a birthday card off the people who have their holiday house opposite us which was really sweet of them. One was off one of my amazing house mates from uni. She sent me a package of goodies for my birthday, bless her. And the final was an international letter from Canada which included a photograph of our fondue club. I miss these guys...

book worm...?!

Very soon this will be me. And I'm very excited.

Project Office Update:

Desk cleared...check.

Carpet visible...check.

Paper shelves organised...check.

2006 calender taken down...check.

Old junk rid of...working progress.

this week

This week I WILL start my healthy eating/exercise regime that I meant to start 4 weeks ago when i came back from Germany, the land of bread and chocolate.

I'm not cutting out cakes, I'm not cutting out chocolate. I point blank refuse to do that, I like them too much. Plus, I'd simply not manage to do that. I 'have the will power. I'm just going to eat less of them than I have been, and start running more than I am (which will be easy as I've not run once since getting home).

Surely, in a few weeks, that number on the scale will start to get a little smaller, and my clothes might not be as snug as they are now.

Well, that's the theory anyway.

project office

So I have set myself a project to let the interior designer inside myself to be expressed. I'm decided to re-decorate our office. Now, I use the term 'office' loosely, dumping ground would be a more accurate way of describing this room...I mean, just take a look...

Who even knows what's in this cupboard

The calendar on the left there is from, no joke, 2006!

Yep, its a serious dumping ground. On that
chair there, the one that got rejected from
 the sitting room when we decorated that,
is a very very very old mac that is never ever
goingto get used again.
Why do we have it I ask?!!

Now, thanks to my pintrest addiction, I have gathered some ideas on the end result of my project...this is what I'm visioning...

Look how organised that it :)

  

So simple

(Images from www.pintrest.com)

This could be a little bit of a challenge I think, but boy will it be worth it. I also feel that this project may take me some time...doing little bits at a time. 

GO PROJECT OFFICE.

today.

Today.

Today was my day off. It's been a while since I've had a day where I'm free do do as I wish. No shift at work at all, no solid plans that I had to stick to. I was free to just have a day for me.
And so I slept in, I read my book (The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks. It's getting pretty good, the characters are currently falling in love pretty much. VERY excited for the film to come out soon!) in bed for a long time. I got up, had some breakfast whilst still reading my book. I played the piano for some time. I met us with my best friend and started clearing out her future house. I emailed some friends from bible school. I cleaned the kitchen. And I made my friends birthday prezzie, something that I saw on pintrest a while back.

All in all, it was a great day.
And its not over yet. Technically I still have just under 2 hours left of the day. I plan to continue sipping on my Belgium hot chocolate, read a few more chapters of my book, and then snuggle up in bed and catch up on the latest episode of my favorite numbers, 90210.

Creative urge

This afternoon after getting home from work I got the urge to be creative. And so I made a bracelet that I'd seen on pintrest AGES ago. But my creative desire was still there.

I opened some photos up on my laptop and started editing and playing around with them. But I still felt the need to be more artsy.

And so I rooted in my draw, pulled out some paint, got my self a paintbrush from the cupboard, filled a glass with some water and started painting ...well, I say painting, no great masterpieces were created. However, my creative urge was satisfied when I had that paintbrush in my hand.

I've missed being artsy.

...and breathe

Part of me feels like I haven't had chance to stop and take a breath since I've got back from Germany.
I'm ready for a chill day. A Steph day.

I want to tidy my room, organize my stuff, spend hours on pintrest, start making all the things that I've already found on there, to read and read and read, journal, scrapbook, go for a walk, or even better to go for a run.

I want to find a field like this, to sit and listen to worship songs on my iPod.

Yeah, I'm ready for a Steph day.

yearn

Holy design

this place in time

that i might seek and find my God

my God

Lord i want to yearn for You

i want to burn with passion

over You and only You

Lord i want to yearn

Your joy is mine

yet why am i fine

with all my singing and bringing grain

in light of Him

oh You give life and breath

through Him You give all things

in Him we live and move

that's why i sing

Lord i want to yearn for You

i want to burn with passion

over You and only You

Lord i want to yearn

- Shane and Shane -