Headache

Fortunately I have no intention of going to a Doctor for my headache... instead I'm going to find some chocolate and something without caffeine in!

Night In

Today I have a night in, which after doing two 14 hour days, working on my day off and not getting a day off this week, I am relishing.

My brain still feels a little like mush, but much less so than the other day so that is a plus. Instead, I just need a night of not thinking.

Hibernation is the name of my game. Mmmmm pyjamas and cups of tea!

Woop! Woop!

xo

Brain Mush

I should currently be doing work. However, as it's Friday night, I've been going non-stop all week and my brain has fallen out, I've decided to ignore that which is hanging over me for now... A task for the morning perhaps?

Anyhow, it has been an interesting week...my birthday seems much more than 5 days ago. I've been attempting to do several billion things each day this week, with an excessive amount of admin, meetings, and conversations over coffee. I've also managed to sleep through my alarm three times out of five which was rather unfortunate. How, I'm not quite sure. But then, there are many things I am not quite sure of.

I got a phonecall from Paperchase probably offering me a job until they realised how much I'm away from Bournemouth... my life does have it's downfalls sometimes. Still, I'm sure it'll all be fine and the summer will come and go much sooner than I expect. Then it's September and London and then my brain self-combusts.

Definitely a week of brain mush and confusion. Something akin to mushusion...

AHHHHH!

xoxo

20

I am now 20. I feel that as over the last week people have guessed me to be both 26 and 28, my actual age is much more reasonable.

I have had a very good day, which definitely involved being hilariously geeky. My birthday consisted of a BBQ in the forest and a surprise tea party with excessive amounts of tea and cake...two things I love dearly. I was also given flowers and a plant, and a billion birthday cards full of lovely words.

It's nice to hear that people love you. Even if you know it, and you see it day to day...that's why I like birthdays.

I was blindfolded and taken into a strange room to discover a table full of cupcakes and tea and pink pretty things and presents. It was very lovely. There was a big board filled with lots of lovely things and a pile of cards that declared things too. I liked this.

I also got a Doctor Who cake, danced to 90s pop and laughed til I cried. Sounds good for a Birthday party huh.

It is now time for bed. Long but hopefully very good day tomorrow!!!

xxx

Birthday beginnings

Indulging my truly geeky side, I've been given Northanger Abbey (the only Jane Austen I was yet to own), a calligraphy set and some parchment writing paper.


I love birthdays.
x

Jools Holland

I tried to post this yesterday but blogger was having a spiteful moment and wouldn't allow it...So here you are! Enjoy!

Now I may be poor but when someone offers you the chance to go and be part of the audience at a Jools Holland TV recording, it's not something you turn down.

Tuesday afternoon saw me leaving work early, half running to the train station only to get there early anyway. A train to London, giving me enough time to discuss plot lines for Doctor Who, paint my nails and have a small nap before arriving at Waterloo. From there it was straight to the BBC Studios.

Now, for a southerner like I, who until December had never been further north than London, anything that usually remains within a TV screen is fairly exciting. We joined the queue of people forming outside the BBC, and were rather pleased we arrived about an hour early...within 10 minutes the queue had doubled with people gathering behind us. Apparently more people are invited than there are spaces for so we were fortunate to be further to the front than most.

Inside, or perhaps firstly more importantly outside, there is a giant Tardis, poster of Matt Smith and big BBC blocks...Yes, we did take tourist type photos...but lots of other people did too so I don't feel too ashamed!

We grabbed a drink and milled about inside waiting for the okay to enter the studio. By this point our excitement had reached new highs and consequently our speech was in nothing but high squeaks and the occasional flap of hands.

And so, we saw...

The Arctic Monkeys

Randy Newman

Gappy Ranks

Warpaint

Alison Krauss

and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys...

Oh and of course, Jools Holland!

The whole thing was a little surreal, the music quality was beyond astounding. I may not know my technical details but it sounded phenomenal, and even though reggae or country aren't really my kind of thing, it was just such an exciting opportunity and so enjoyable! Was rather fun to have a bit of a cheeky dance too.

I think the highlight, as much as it was good to see Arctic Monkeys and I loved Warpaint, was by far, Brian Wilson. A member of The Beach Boys, singing classics such as Good Vibrations and California Girls. His last time in the UK, it really was a once in a lifetime experience.

With so much listening pleasure, it all passed a tad too quickly, but four hours on your feet is a tad draining so by the time we returned toWaterloo it was time for a bagel and a very large cup of tea.

 

And then, outside the bagel stand a bearded man announces to me that he designed my dress. You assume that such a claim would be false but on hearing all of the finer details of shop, buying time and price you begin to be a little suspicious that this man knows rather too much about women's fashion than is usual or healthy for a man in his 60s... Anyway, with business card in hand I trundle off, get chatted up by the sales person in WHSmiths (who chats girls up by commenting on their choice of Coke and Oasis!?!!) and jump on the train to head home.

Turns out the guy I met is indeed a famous designer of women's close and owns a huge fashion house. Ridiculous!

So yes, that was my evening, it also involved seeing Carol Vorderman, and Marcus Mumford (and possibly another one?!) as well as getting home at 3am and being up at 7am for work.

That's probably the highlight of my week...just probably...

Check out the BBC on Friday night and see if you can find me and my lovely ginger friend in the audience!

xxx

The adventures of a life in Bristol

Up as dawn broke, and the sun came up. That was my start to Tuesday morning, and accompanied with a cup of tea and my journal I took the train down the road to Southampton for the drive to Bristol with some friends.

This week was my second to last FP Training block, which is effectively three days of Theology teaching with around 30 other people doing what I do. It's pretty cool. After nearly two months of not seeing each other, it was lovely to see the faces that I've got to know this year. Being spread out across the South from Cornwall to Portsmouth all the way up to Swindon means we don't see each other as much as I'd like to, so it was good to be together again.

There's something about people being on the same page that is so encouraging. We may all be involved in lots of different stuff,  but our hearts are still after the same thing, and it makes for some easy breathing to be able to moan a little, laugh a lot and be encouraged. 

Over the past months visiting Bristol has become rather a regularity, respite of a non-relaxing kind...if that's possible. I've always loved being away from home and seeing something new, and Bristol is a great city. Filled with history and some crazy culture, sometimes it feels like a mish mash of things squashed together amongst the old town houses and steep hills, but it's definitely charming. 

Where we are based is in a great place to see some of the interesting sites of Bristol. Back in September we took a look at some of the historic sites, and being next to Stokes Croft we definitely get to see a little of something different. A couple of times we walked into the town centre whilst we were away, as we did a lot of work on the streets this time around. You walk down the long main road, and straight through the area that has recently been having riots over Tesco, and has an Anarchy Cafe; one of it's tamer attractions.

Although graffiti is not my favourite kind of art, Stokes Croft certainly has some interesting and beautiful pieces. Everywhere you look colour is splashed across walls, and we got to see some guys painting the 'Stokes Croft Gallery' which I think is an abandoned building with boarded up windows that create great canvases for graffiti. Something a little like these...

The detail they manage to achieve is ridiculous. On our walk into town they had repainted the canvasses white  so they had something clear to start on, and on our way back they had nearly finished their designs!

Anyway, the people and the graffiti weren't the best bits of the week... And neither were my new and very lovely hosts that I stay with... 

The best bits were the times I got to spend in the presence of God and hearing from Him. They trumped any of the other things I got up to.

What's even better is that having a relationship with Jesus isn't something limited to Bristol, or FP, or those who work for the church but wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I can rest assured in the love of God and His absolute faithfulness.

Now that's an adventure I want to continue in.

Happy Weekend Friends

LOVE

xoxo

GRR

I had some rubbish news tonight. 

WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING??!!!!!!!!!

Evangelism Explosion

Just to give you a little taster of what I got up to today....

Alarm pierces my ear drums at a rather horrible 6.30am. Needless to say, I ignore it for as long as possible before begrudgingly making my way to the shower and getting ready for the day ahead.

With a handful of others from church, and the benefits of a kind and generous driver, I headed to Southampton for a bit of a training day. Arriving in perfect time to grab a nice cup of earl grey to wake me up, we began the day in Central Hall, the building of one of the Soton churches where our conference was being hosted.

The morning was spent looking at the 'Evangelism' - what it is, why it's important and then at the whole area of healing. With a short break for lunch, we headed back to the centre for the adventurous afternoon.

A while ago I wrote about Treasure Hunting, which is something Christians use to go out onto the streets, meet people and share the Gospel. By asking God for 'clues' we are then able to attempt to find 'treasure' who are people that God wants to meet with.

Clues come under the headings of
Location
Name
Appearance
Ailment
Unusual

and working with these, each participant creates a 'treasure map'... and this is what occupied my afternoon hours.

Over the course of the afternoon, I spoke to loads of people out and about and handed out some flyers.

There was one exciting moment where two girls that we approached matched the clue 'Dancing (Samba)' as well as having the matching 'bow in hair' for appearance. We were able to chat to them, pray for them and hopefully bless them! Always encouraging with something like that.

The day was full of fantastic stories, and with Jesus healing lots of people, there were also people inevitably becoming Christians! WOOP! Six people in fact. SERIOUS WOOP!

Many people were moved by what were doing, there were of course many who thought we were very odd, and plenty of people who were too busy to stop and chat, but it was a great experience and something I'd love to see more of at home. Jesus is alive, He speaks, and He wants to meet with people, and not just 'special' people, but you and I...that's exciting. And hey, I'd rather look stupid for God, than be stupid and not tell someone about the epic truths of the Gospel.

Much love from a tired by happy person.
xxx