Saying goodbye

This post probably won't be as jolly or exciting as the other ones, but it still has a lot of truth in it. Since the holidays ended, it's been as hard as always to get over such a great summer, especially as this one is the best so far, and to get on with school. The miserable weather doesn't help! People have gradually been leaving to go home to all their different countries or areas, so my life has emptied more and more in the past couple of weeks, which is quite hard to adjust to. Anyone that knows me well can tell you I get emotionally attached very easily, so having a big bunch of incredible, God-loving friends around who start to disappear can be a bit painful, but I know I can do it, I do every year, and this time my relationship is God is strong enough for me to know that I can find peace and joy in Him, anywhere, at any time.

The people I have said goodbye to have all been a big part of my life this summer, and I will miss each and everyone of them. The most recent ones being Marco, Delila, Nelly Jelly, Myria, Cerstin and Tundi. Then there is my beautiful Kateri, who is like a sister to me- one of many- and who left to go back to America this morning, after I spent 6 great months getting to know and love her. But it is all I can do to repeatedly thank God for her this summer, and everybody else. Getting back into school isn't hard, just boring, as it's not where I want to be but I know I just have to get through this year and do the best I can, then I can begin to do God's work out in the real world! Beginning with bible school in Germany next September which I could not be more excited about!! I have nearly completed my application, so soon I hope to be sending it off and praying I get a spot at Bodenseehof! :)





Not a lot of things have happened these past few weeks, except a few games of Mafia, movie and pizza nights, and hanging out with some of the loveliest girls I have ever met! A group of us all decided to buy hair dye in town and then all dyed each others hair, I went chocolate truffle so sort of reddish brown, so that was good fun! I have also been keeping up with driving lessons and I am now booked in for my practical driving test in a few weeks which is a scary thought!! The weather is indeed turning into a typical British autumn now, it has been raining non-stop for about a week and we have a usual puddle building in our front garden! But the only good point is that I love starting to wrap up warm and putting wellies on and going out for rain walks!!

There was another worship night a couple of weeks back, which was the best of all three I have been to this summer, and as it was the final one, me Anna and Kateri all got a bit emotional after a deep prayer session for the next year! But a big positive is that in just a few days, my best friend Sarah is moving down here for bible school, so I will get to see her every day (lucky me!), but honestly, I am so excited to have her close by for moral support and my own personal stash of Abercrombie and Hollister clothing! :D Thanks Saz!

This is us, by the way!

In terms of looking to the future of the year to come, the title of my post also has a metaphorical meaning. This summer transformed me, and I really want to remain the strong Christian I am, even though I know there are plenty of tests and trials out there waiting for me back in the real world, especially at school. But the difference this year is that I am saying goodbye to any old me that made mistakes, or denied my faith to my peers, because I am so determined to show everyone just how incredible God is. Already, it isn't easy, but I am sticking with it and can already feel God strengthening me, in the way only He can, and blessing me for standing up for Him. A verse that is very fitting for this is one Sarah gave me a few days ago, from Romans 8: 18 - 'Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us'. So basically, it should be seen as a privilege to sacrifice reputation and dismiss what other will say, because the result is eternal life with God, and what bigger reward could there be!?

So, this year I am letting God take control of all areas of my life, my relationships, my commitment to school, my faith, my fears, my future and everything else. I am trusting in Him completely, and I invite you all to share the same confidence with me, and although we may stumble and doubt, we should not give up on believing that God really has what is best for us in mind and no matter what we are going through, he will never leave us, and we can always find blessings from Him, if we are looking to Him. I will leave you all with this:
Psalm 25: 4-5
Lord, tell me your ways, show me how to live. Guide me in your truth and teach me, my God and my Saviour, I trust you all day long.

Have a fantastic year, not that this is actually goodbye, I will be posting in another few weeks no doubt! God Bless you all! :)

P.S. WE ALSO GOT A CAT! She is adorable, and her name was Milo, but that's a boy name so it's MILA :D

Romania, France and beyond.

Okay, so where I left off I was just about to go on a mission trip to Romania. That was Thursday 16th Aug, so it's been about 3 weeks since then. I have a LOT to blog, but bear with me, it is all pretty exciting!

 So, that evening we left North West England and travelled for 18 hours by car, plane and then minibus, finally arriving in the small town of Baru, Romania, at about 6pm the next day! It was HOT! The rest of the day was unpacking, showering to get rid of the sweaty bus, journey, then going to the House of Hop orphanage for tea; getting to see lots of gorgeous kids who are like a second family! Then the weekend was spent preparing for the football and craft clubs we were going to run for the weekdays. On Sunday we registered the children (all 60 of them) for the clubs, and then went up the hill to look over Baru and pray. This is something we do every year before the clubs begin, so that we know God's presence will be with us as we try and show his love to the poor children of Baru. It was, as always, a great experience. 

During the weekdays we ran the clubs each morning and the kids got to make a vast array of crafty things, much better than I could. But it was great, we all were responsible for a table of children, and I had the chance to get close to the best kids I have ever met in my life. The rest of the craft team also felt the same, which was my parents, and two friends Emma and Hester. My brother Josh and two of his friends Chris and Jake were running the football. In the afternoons we would either have a chilled time as it was FAR too hot to do anything, or go to the local swimming pool which was completely not heated - which is perfect when you aren't used to the 40 degree heat!

Wednesday night I had one of the most incredible times of summer. It started off with a lovely dinner for a friend's birthday, and then the villages church youth group were going up into the mountain late at night for a bonfire, prayer, worship and of course some toasting over the fire! It is their version of a youth group social, but it is fairly different as it started at 9, ended at 2:30am! We also were taken up the mountain on a trailer that appeared to be falling apart! So it was pretty extreme youth group, but it was amazing! Hearing the children and adults singing praise in Romania, sat in front of a bonfire in the early hours of the morning is not an experience you get to share every day!
On the Friday we took the craft club children up into the valley by a river and played some games with them, and it was hot and stressful for us, but they had so much fun! :) It was extremely hard to say goodbye to 30 children I are in love with, but it had to come to an end. The Saturday was our final day in Romania and we visited a castle where Dracula had stayed a long while ago, and a McDonalds after!! The evening was spent at the House of Hope orphanage, with lots of love, prayer and laughter shared. It was the hardest thing I have had to do in a long time to leave, and I feel God putting it hugely on my heart to go back one day for a longer period, so I am excited to see how that works out. 

As we left at 12am again, we had a similar journey back, and stayed overnight in London on Sunday night. The Monday morning we were off again, this time through a tunnel under the sea to France! For a week we stayed on a campsite, just me, my parents and my best friend Hester. We visited the D-day beaches of Normandy, and all the key historical cemeteries, St Michael's Mount etc. We also got to relax a lot and swim, read, go out for lunch on the beach, and for the first time in a few years we had a holiday! It was good for us all. Then the following Monday we packed up for a final time and headed home, and another 17 hours later we were home! 

Since we got home, I have been settling back into normal life, school, and catching up on sleep. It has been fairly emotional because of the relationship area, but also after having the most incredible summer of my life, but I am ready for the last year of school, a few rounds off late night Mafia games! and for a chance to share God and His love to everyone I meet, because I cannot thank Him enough for the miraculous things He has done in my, through me, and all around me this summer. I love Him, and all you lovely people reading this, very much! Happy September everybody! God bless :)

P.S. Also jumped in a river fully clothed, and had a waterfight with my brother whilst in Romania. Forgot about that crazy one! The first photo is the Romania team of summer 2012, before we jumped in the river!

One busy week!

I have had a pretty busy week or so. I had a driving lesson, helped with a housekeeping team, met a group of people from Kazakhstan, and drove home for a 45 minute drive, which is the furthest I have done so far.

I also went to see the new Spiderman at the cinema with my Dad, which brings a funny story. There is a part in the movie where he discovers a spider bit on the back of his neck, and thereafter begins to turn into a spider-man. So two nights after I went to watch the film, I woke up itching the back of my neck... to find a bite! I haven’t unravelled my web powers yet, or attempted flying, but who knows what time will bring!!

I attended a friend’s 17^th birthday party on Friday afternoon, and stuffed myself with about 500 cakes.... still haven’t got to the gym to work it off yet.. :/ but we also watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is my favourite film, so that was cool :) Then that evening I went to a worship evening, something I love to do, but I was asked to do the words for the projection, which was very nerve-racking; something I have never done before and had no idea how to do. But it was simple really, so that was that.

Saturday was a gig at my local Costa coffee shop, of a local band to raise money for the Costa charity. I went with one of my best friends, Sam, who moved to London the next day, so it was a great send off as I am going to miss spending time and chatting with her! Good luck with all that Sam! Then on Sunday I went to church, had a lovely roast dinner, and played croquet for the first time ever, with an Italian friend, Davide, and my little ‘’sister’’ Brianna. It was the Olympics closing ceremony that night, but I was pretty disappointed with it, and so was Marco because there was no Adele!

Final paragraph I promise. Monday was a fairly normal day, no exciting neck bites or new found love for sports, but I watched Megamind which I LOVED, and had some good conversations about Germany and their weird school system with Marco :) Then on Tuesday, I had a pretty great day! First I passed my driving theory test – second time round – which isn’t the hardest part but I was still pretty happy about! Then I got to spend time with my darling friend Heather who I never see because she lives in Manchester, but we met for a brief drink at Starbucks, and of course a lot of laughter – it’s Heather! :)

Tuesday afternoon I had a haircut, got a right chop off which was kind of sad but it’s growing on me! And the sun came out too for a bit of a bathe! So yeah, it’s been an excellent week and a half so far. And it only got better with a sleepover with the brilliant German sister Damaris! Then on Wednesday I watched Fawlty Towers - classic! And then stayed up with 3 Germans: Marco, Max and Daniel, till 1:30am watching Transformers. It was a good day for watching movies! And the mission trip to Romania begins on tonight (Thursday) at midnight!! Summer is only half way through, and it’s going incredible so far! :D That’s all folks!

2 weeks with Germans, my girls, and God!

So, straight after my last blog update, I went head on into 2 weeks on a Christian youth camp, which was international. It is something I do every year, and it is my favourite time of the entire year and probably what the rest of my year is geared around! This year, it wasn't as good as previous years in some ways, for instance a lot of friends from last year didn't come back this time, and I didn't socialise as much as other years. However, it was the best year so far in spiritual terms, and I grew so much closer to God which is amazing!

Anyway, I shared a room with 4 of my favourite girls in the world, and got to see old friends, and make new ones, particularly from Northern Ireland! We also befriended some Germans (because what's a holiday without doing that!) which made me realise how sad I am I gave up German at school a year ago, and I am trying, quite pathetically, to pick it up again now. The following picture shows me and my friends with the Germans at a bonfire night on the camp:

And the next one of old friends who mean a lot to me as well:

The two weeks were jam packed with activities and crazy times, just to mention a few:

• Taking double, triple, and I think quadruple shots of pure concentrate Robinson's summer fruit at the dinner table
• A game in the dark running through fields with a flag painted on my face, avoiding being caught by the 'baddies'
• A live concert from an up and coming New Zealand musician
• Visit to Manchester and Nando's! And of course shopping!!
• Scottish dancing again! 
• Watching the Olympic opening ceremony in a tent filled with French, Germans, Spanish etc.
• Completing a decathlon with my beautiful room mates... which we never found out the results too but we are fairly sure we came 1st!! ;)
• Getting up at 7:30 am to go swimming!!
• Visit to Blackpool and getting my ear cartilage pierced :)
• Winning an unauction full of crazy tasks such as drinking coke through a sock!!

So yeah, they were an amazing two weeks! It was hard to say goodbye to a lot of people and to come home, but I am looking forward to a missions trip to Romania, then a family holiday to France towards the end of summer. Oh, and also dreading my theory driving test next week! That's all folks.

Summer time baby!

So, it's been over two weeks, I have been a bit slacking I'll admit... But not a great deal exciting has happened. I did some shopping with friends, had a couple of successful driving lessons where nobody died, and saw some good old family friends from Bristol!

As school has been drawing to a close and many birthdays seem to have popped up, we (my school friends and I) enjoyed a delightful trip to Pizza hut, followed by a big chocolate cake, of course!

Other things I have done that aren't very important or significant:
-- Watching the Hangover
-- Dreamt I had a child, whilst being a top female MP in The House of Commons (bit of an odd one I know!)
-- Had a glorious trip to the dentist who remarked that I had ''a great set of teeth''
-- Tripped to Costa with a friend I won't see for a year who is going to Australia - not AT ALL jealous.
-- Watched Captain America
-- Made a new ginger friend, always a positive!
-- Got a haircut for my skanky split ends

Tuesday was a fun day, we had a massive fatty picnic at school! Tons of chocolate, crisps, doughnuts, sweets, etc. It was a very good day; I had to go off of my so far 1 month long diet just for the day, but it's okay because I went to the gym and now I am steady and back on the diet!

Sunday is also a highlight that cannot be missed: I visited Malham, which is the limestone cliff scene where Harry and Hermione camped in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. I stood where they camped, it was fantastic! I was one happy fan :)

So that about sums my last fortnight up! Today my Scottish friend Sarah arrived and tomorrow I am going on holiday for 2 weeks of fun with friends from all around the world, so I might not be writing often, but I will definitely have a lot to update on in my next post. Happy summer everyone! :)

Wizard, Wolverine and a (fake) Wedding!

So I haven’t blogged for about a week, because life was boring for a little while, then it got really interesting so I had too much of a life. I haven’t even used my laptop in about 5 days, which is some sort of a breakthrough in my terms. The last few days have held some bizarre happenings, as the title suggests, proven by the crucially embarrassing positions I have fallen asleep in on the bus for the last 3 days, I am just that tired. Thursday was a mediocre day, nothing exciting or new. Friday showed improvement in the shape of cake baking with friends, then celebrating Andrea’s birthday with said cake, and seeing old friends from Northern Ireland, Germany etc. Fun times indeed. However, things only got better as Saturday dawned, with the arrival of another friend, this time a complete surprise, from Manchester. The evening was a great one, as I was introduced to the card game Wizard which I still don’t understand how to play, but managed to win in partnership with Marco, the good old competitive German that probably should take all the credit for the win... Anyhow, after this I watched the film Resident Evil (don’t ask me which one) with a group of friends. This is another kind of breakthrough for me, as I am a complete wimp when it comes to scary films, but this was zombies who are just amusing, so all was good and I braved the suspense till 1:30 am.

Sunday was possibly one of the most dragged out days in a long time! I spent the whole day either sleeping or watching movies, with a roast thrown in for dinner! One of the movies was in fact in German, with no English subtitles, and due to my excellent lack of fluency in German, I understood nothing, and fell asleep. Then of course, Spain won the football and I went home caring less than I did beforehand, and hit the sack hard. Monday, however, held a candle to the whole weekend. Of course I had school, and that was boring and pointless as usual, but in the evening I got all dressed up (this is happening so unusually often of late!?) and went to a fake wedding! An American girl marrying a Spanish prince, pushed down the aisle to Bruno Mars – Marry You, on a food trolley.  The sermon given by my good friend Zachary, who is an un-legislated pastor at the age of 16, gave a hilarious sermon on the failure of marriage, rounding it off with ‘’you may now high-five the bride!’’. It was a surreal but highly enjoyable night, and it ended with a stunning wedding cake and dancing to Call Me Maybe, before being told to turn the music down. Again, I went home completely shattered at about 12am, willingly ready to get up at 6am for school...!

Tuesday was a mixed emotion day, with a two hour talk about death by dangerous driving for young people, including graphic videos and gruesome facts, leaving me sat on a bus strapped in by seatbelt, which is a first in the 7 years I have been getting it to school. The evening held nothing more exciting than grooving around to some funky tunes in a coffee shop with some Germans, American etc; the usual thing for an evening, so that was pretty cool. Today is Wednesday, 4^th July and I have been all political in respect of the few Americans here I still know, and wore a New York City shirt, and American flag underwear. And watched Andrea make an occasion themed cake, if that counts. Ironically, this evening I went to a Ceilidh; typical Scottish dancing and probably furthest thing from the moves of young Americans today I am fairly sure, but something I adore doing and therefore was very excited about. I danced a lot, sweated a lot more, and had a lovely time dancing with Northern Irish and German friends, especially being made to lead the Cha Cha slide dance as usual (with accompaniment of Jedge)!For now, that it all. Over and out Amigos. 

                                                     Oh, and Happy Independence Day!

Pizza for 3

The past week has held an interesting array of events. Last Friday we had a school trip to watch the Olympic Torch, which I can say was only memorable due to the fact I have never been so soaked in my life. We stood for 2 hours in the rain, to see a man jog past in 5 seconds. However, the day has it's great points, I found a look alike of Ed Sheeran in a coffee shop in town!

The weekend is hardly worth remembering, I think the most productive thing I did was go to the gym, so let's skip to this week. Today is Wednesday 27th June, my father's 56th birthday. During the school day, I saw ''Ed'' again in town, after seeing him at a music event on Sunday in his band! In the evening I got all dressed up, which hasn't happened in a while, and went out for Pizza with the parents, where I happened to find another ginger man serving us. I think it is a sign from the world.

Today I decided to begin blogging, maybe to rekindle my childhood passion for writing, or to try and find an inner depth to my soul, or because a lot of people I know are doing it and it looked like a fun way to record life's little moments. I hope you enjoy reading, and probably laughing too, at my sad but satisfactory every day life :)

The story behind the pencil thing.

Inspired by the quote: 'Write your address in pencil, so that nothing is permanent' which sums up my life, or rather the life I hope to have one day. My passion is travel, photography, and spending time with people I love. This blog is really just to express that, and give me something to do late at night when I should sleep but refuse to.

Within this blog there will be pictures of my life, pointless daily happenings, and most often talk of the male species, particularly celebrities by the name Ed Sheeran or Tom Hiddleston. However, this is all part of my journey, that I am writing in pencil (metaphorically obviously, everything is permanent on the internet), to hopefully have some input in this crazy world through my small, uneventful, confusing life.