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. 

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.

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 :)

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. 

$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.

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.

book worm...?!

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

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.

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.

ahh, tea

I'm currently only a 'water only' lent/charity thing. Basically, for the past 6 weeks I've only drank water...no coke, no lemonade, no orange juice, no apple juice, no hot chocolate, no Starbucks drinks, no Schwartz drinks, no alcoholic drinks, and most significantly, no tea!!

And now that the end is in sight, all I want is a brew. A nice hot cup of English tea with milk, no sugar,and a biscuit or two to dunk in it.

Ahh tea, how I miss you.

Sun 5th Feb :)

You know those days that are just awesome. For me, yesterday was one of them. Why?

1. The weather. It was a b-e-a-u-tiful day; it was freezing cold, but the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

2. Church. The sermon was pure gospel amazing-ness.

3. Photos. We got our yearbook photos taken which was great fun, and they are all looking amazing. The guys are doing a great job with them. I'm rather excited to see the end result.

4. The afternoon. I spent my afternoon with my Bode peeps playing ice hockey on a frozen lake. Ohhh yeahhh.

5. The sunset. A few of us walked back to the lake to watch the sun go down. We took photos, laughed, and watched the big pink sun set behind the mountains of Switzerland.

6. Skype. The highlight of the day, month, and year so far for me...skyping with my best friend with her now FIANCE (!!!) SHE IS GETTING MARRIED AND I AM SO SO SO EXCITED AND UNBELIEVEBLY HAPPY FOR HER.

So yeah, it was simply a great day.

in a nutshell

So I realise I've been back at school for like 3 weeks now, and I've posted nothing on here which informs you of what I've actually been up to. Well, for those of you who were wondering, this is what the past 3 weeks here has looked for me in a nutshell...

- New room, new room mates
- New duty: dinner dishes (...my fave duty by far, we're an efficient team!!)
- Numerous runs around the German countryside (we'll see how long this lasts!)
- Lectures on John
- New seat for lectures - Party Paradise Desk, THE best desk in the lecture hall this time!
- Walks to the lake
- Flea market visit
- Crossing planning
- Paper on a Christian Classic
- Paper on the poetic books
- Games of Settlers
- Saunas
- Movie making social night
- Kgroup 80s v nerds bowling
- Journal making
- Lectues on Acts
- Lectures on minor prophets
- Letter writing
- Sharing my Bible Study Project in front of the whole school (!!!)
- Getting a cold
- Recovering from a cold
- Coffee in town with cool people
- School film night of Cool Runnings... "Jamaica, we have a bobsled team..."

And there you go; my life here so far second term. Next time I'll try not to leave it so long in blogging properly, it was hard to remember all that!

Turbulence

After a ridicules 12 hour journey I’m finally back to the Bode. OK, so my journey here was quite epic, I feel the need to share it haha!

So myself and Erin travelled back together. Erin is another girl from school who was in London the few days before Bode started, so she decided to come up north so see me and travel back together which was really nice.

We got the airport in plenty of time, but the website I booked my tickets through this time were totally crap and basically the flight ended up way more expensive than they should have been. Anyways, we sorted that out, got all checked in and boarded the plane. We get the majority of the way, I’ve read about 30 odd psalms trying to catch up on the bible reading that I seem to have got way behind on during the Christmas holls, and suddenly we get some turbulence.

OK, so a little bit of turbulence I can handle. But I have never experience turbulence like there was on this flight. For what seemed like forever the place was bouncing around all over the place. I tried to put my bible back into my bag and even that turned into a bit of a challenge because of the turbulence. Seriously, it felt as though we were on a rollercoaster. I remember turning to look at the air hostess (...do you call male air hostesses that?! Or are they male hosts?! ...anyways...) sat at the back of the plane behind us and he was sat on this like crate this sorting out the rubbish bags and he literally nearly fell of this stool, he laughed, and then a door swung open and pretty much hit him in the face. Because he was laughing at the situation my nerves kind of calmed, but I really hope I never have a flight where it’s that bad again! The captain then came on the speakers, sounding rather stressed I might add, and said we were going to start the descent into Zurich, and I was like THANK GOODNESS!!

We do safely get our feet onto solid ground, find our bags, and head to the train station. We had around 40 minutes until our train left so we sat and grabbed a drink and chocolate bar. 10 minutes before our train came we head down onto the platforms. It’s getting minutes before our train should arrive and I’m looking around and see this number 4 on our platform! “Wait, we are on platform 4, we need to be on platform 1!” I look over at platform 1 and there is a train sitting there! So we start heading over to the right platform, are going down the escalator and Erin says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that train that’s leaving is ours!” It was. And it actually wasn’t that funny. Luckily there was another train going in an hour, so we wait for that one on the right platform and finally we are on the move again, one step closer in getting to Friedrichshafen.

We get off at Konstanz, were we are due to catch a ferry across the lake. OK, so we are each carrying a significant amount of luggage with us, and we have 3 minutes to get to the ferry, which out train ticket said would take a 6 minute walk. We are running towards the harbour, scanning the boats to see where ours is. More than 3 minutes goes by and we don’t find it. Ferry = missed. One hour later again we get the next one. And FINALLY we reach our second home. After a 20 minute walk to our hostel, we get changed and head out for some much needed pizza.

It was quite the journey, but totally worth it. I’m now back at school, in my bottom bunk (...ooohhhhh yeahhh) and it’s great to see everyone again and catch up. I’ve missed these guys so much over the holidays.

Let term two commence....

new dreams

12 months

2011;

Well, not going to lie but you have treated me pretty darn well.
Here are a few of the bigger things that have happened...

- After 3 long years, many assignments, and many many many hours of placement I finally finished university with a 1st degree

- I handed back my keys for my Adelphi house

- I spent one month in Tanzania

- While there I got chance to visit and orphanage to play with the children. Possibly one of the most humbling experiences ever.

- I turned 21...while in Tanzania...and hiked around a mountain to celebrate

- I went to Canada and saw the first of my friends get married

- I had a road trip with my friends through the rocky mountains

- I found a summer job to help pay for all these exciting trips

- I started bible school in Germany for 6 months (...which makes the first 3 months of 2012 very exciting)

All in all, I have been very blessed by God.

Thank You Lord.

#4

Remember when I posted about being 14 years behind on these books...well I've caught up a little since then, now it's 11 years! And I anticipate that number going down over the next 3 weeks!

Now then Harry, where were we...

the power of cupcakes

THE cutest little cupcake shop.

Cheers to the power of cupcakes.