Christmas

Well am back home now having visited my Dad for the last 6 days. I say that but I see him every day as I go to his house for my lunch due to working in the same town that he lives in so its not like I travel miles to see him only once a year!! Think that he's glad to get rid of me though as he reclaims control of the TV now that I'm home.

Sadly the washing machine broke before I left so am waiting for a new one to be delivered on Tuesday; an interesting event as my Dad had to come down to Holywell with me so he could drag the machine into the backyard, lean it on its side so all the water would drain out and then prize the door open screwdriver to get the washing out!! All for a few towels and the mat set from the bathroom. There was no way I was trying it in my party clothes!!

Anyway here are some of the pictures that I took over the holiday....hope you enjoy!

Dad and Lowri: seriously, I am no longer the apple of his eye!!

I love this picture of me and little-un......she is so precious and just grins and giggles whenever she sees me now! She's learnt to say Dada and so my brother cannot go out of her sight now as she pulls a tantrum if he disappears anywhere!!

This was the little man surrounded by all the packaging of his presents.......my Dad was wrestling with the package of a 3 and 1/2 foot long fire truck that he had......was funny that at one point, though he was surrounded by all these hi-tech gifts he was walking around the house with a penny whistle!!

This was Osian parading around the houses with his prizes from the cracker!! Thought you may like this photo Amy as he's wearing the sweater that I bought him from that little shop in Charlevoix after we'd had dinner at that Pizza place! So cute if a little big!

Sadness

Today we cremated my Uncle who died a week ago. Though he had cancer of the bladder it was unexpected. He'd had chemotherapy and then they removed his bladder in an operation a fortnight ago. Sadly he developed pneumonia, a thrombosis and then heart failure. We are such a close family, especially on my Dads side and it was such a shocking devastating loss to the family.
It was a really tough day as this is the first loss in the family since mum died 11 years ago. For me it was hard as I've never been to a cremation before.....There was to be no service at the church and in all truth I really had no idea what to expect....Dad was going to be one of the bearers which I know he was paniced about.......

Anyway it all went very well (though I always feel a little strange saying that about funerals!) and felt like it was a real celebration of his life......my heart just broke for all members of the family......his wife has MS and he was her main carer.......his children, though in their 30's/40's were heartbroken and the grandchildren were gutted......I think it has brought the issue of their own mortality to each of the siblings including my Dad......Uncle Bob was the middle brother with my two aunts older and then my Uncle Dei and my Dad being the youngest, and so Dad says they feel like the link has now been broken......

I thank God that I know Him and I can rest and trust in Him......I wonder how I got through mums death without knowing Him (I can feel the Holy Spirit saying 'But I knew you then')

On a happier note I was able to go with Gareth to pick Osian up from school and took this photo of them walking back to the house......the future.

Washington DC photos

Pretty cool photo of the Capitol building from the Washington monument....it was amazing how many American flags were around the city.......do we have that many British flags around in the UK and I've just never noticed?

This was at the Korean Memroial about 3:30pm.....we were blessed with such awesome weather while we were there
Sunset at the Washington Monument.....words not needed, though photo doesn't really do it justice

Micihgan photos

This is a tree on M-66 that I saw on the way to Amy's parents place and then asked her to stop of the way back so I could get a photo. I have no idea why the tradition of throwing your shoes up into the tree began but it looks pretty cool......suffice to say, mine stayed on my feet!!!

This was when the much desired snow hit.....desired by me anyway!! I didn't want to go home and everyone think I was lying about the amount of snow that they get there.....so was glad that I could get this picture of the college chapel......it was pretty cool!!!
Just thought that this made a cool photo with the red berries and the whiteness of the snow

Some photos

So have actually gone through my photos and sorted them out......a little over 160 taken in 2 and 1/2 weeks!! Madness!! Anyway here are a few of friends and fun times and I'll post some others later of scenery and touristy things. It was such an awesome break with so many blessings....one thing I figured in Michigan was that the whole time I was there, I paid for one lunch and that was it.....you guys are so generous!

Anyway, enjoy!! ;- )

Amy and Emma in Grand Rapids airport

Becky, Emma and Kendra at Pietros

Rachel and Emma

Ramona, Becky and Emma on college campus

Emma and the Williams clan

Am home.......

Arrived home yesterday morning after an awesome holiday....

Thank you guys for blessing me so much....

Sadly am back in work now, was I ever away!!

Jetlag is a bummer, was exhausted yet awake until 2am this morning!!

Will post some pics later today or over the weekend.

This time next week!!

Woohooo!! This time next week I'll hopefully be sleeping peacefully in Becky Rasdall's apartment in Washington DC, ready for a day touring Congress and the Holocaust Museum!! I am so looking forward to it....my first real break from home, Holywell, Church and family in 2 years (though that was a holiday in Greece with Dad!!) and I am definitely in need of it...just to get away, refresh, get a different perspective on things.

Between now and then though I still have to work my normal week, 2 lunches out with work colleagues, a dental appointment, youth group, ladies cell group, meet a friend, dinner at Anne's, a weekend in Ellel doing the course, pick Becky Hill up from the airport, School of Leaders.....oh and pack!! I'm hoping I'll sleep on the plane as don't think there'll be that much on the agenda otherwise!!!

On another note I was so blessed last night, a dear friend/encourager/mentor e-mailed me what she saw as my good qualities and gifts....I cried while I read it as I found it difficult to believe that someone would think such nice things about me...awful how we believe the lies of the devil so much easier than the truth....and I am claiming it to be the truth what this person has written about me.....I was so blessed by it. We live in such a society at the moment where it's easier to rip people down than build them up. Where we fear encouraging people incase we look like a goody-too-shoes or we will have risked something of ourselves with gaining nothing in return. I know in youth group last week we did an exercise where you wrote your own name at the top of the piece of paper and then it was passed around the group and everyone wrote a positive comment about you...some of the kids were blown away that others actually thought that they were pretty and had a nice a smile, were fun to be with and had a caring nature. So sad that this isn't the norm.

Anyway must run and start my hectic schedule for the day!!!

Bonfire party

It's Guy Fawkes night here tomorrow evening which is normally celebrated with bonfires and fireworks. We had ours (as a church) as it was a Saturday evening. Had a good time and I was really blessed as my Dad came along. He normally keeps away from these kind of things as he fears that he's going to be hit around the head with a bible and told to convert, but he seemed to really enjoy himself....was such a blessing.

Apart from that, seems to be all quiet. Am shattered and though it's only 21:50 on a Saturday evening, think that I'l be going to bed once Friends finishes on TV in 10 minutes! How sad!!

~Blessings!~

What a cool evening! A group of 10 of us went to Manchester to see Delirious in concert with Tim Hughes supporting! They were awesome....it was worshipful and their music definitely seems to have taken on a more challenging and 'calling' tone than what it was 3 or 4 years ago. It got me thinking about the first time that I saw Delirious and that was in Michigan when I was living there and was in April 2001. I had only been a Christian 2 months, but it was such a great introduction for me into the Chrisitian music scene. I have a photo up of all of us at that concert; myself, Amy, Becky R, James, Brandon, Cherry, Tomo, Chris W, Keith and Mawasi....as well as some others that I can't remember the names of! Such a great time!

Anyway just wanted to share....off to bed now! Another late night! I need to get off this merry go round of life soon! ;- )

My Dad and his gadgets!

I just had to blog about this little thing. My Dad keeps ordering things from those little magazines that you get in the newspaper. So far he's ordered a feather mattress topper, 3 pairs of trousers, a pair of shoes, a single persons deep fat fryer and now this which would you believe is a single persons cooker!! I will explain...
The black tray on the top is the frying pan; when you open the glass door you have both a grill and an oven in there; on the side there is a coffee machine and the jug is enough for a cup of coffee for one person and the finale is that there is a built in radio!!
I was chatting to him today and asking whether or not he'd used it; he was quite excited to tell me that he'd used the radio and that was fantastic...he was then slow to admit that he was a little nervous about using the rest of it, but reitterated that the radio was fantastic!! Bless him!

I had an awesome conversation with him yesterday when he admitted that he thought God had a lot to do with the fact that he gave up alcohol last year......you know when you have one of those moments when you're quiet on the outside but on the inside you are jumping up and down.....it was definitely one of those moments as this is a huge step for my Dad to take! 

Sunrise this morning, I live in such an awesome area and am so blessed by God with the natural beauty that surrounds me.....as always pictures never quite do it justice
~blessings~

 

Sunset with a difference

How cool is this!! This is sunset on mars! Just found it on Wikipedia.

So a couple of things have happened the past couple of days which have made me sit up and take notice....you know those kind of things that give you a bit of a shake and make you think about things a little deeper than you would on an average day.

1) I was chatting to someone yesterday and they were talking about the fact that their daughter wouldn't attend school, she hadn't been for 2 weeks. I was asking her why this was and she came up with every excuse; the teachers were horrible to her, she didn't like Physical Education, the Social Worker was no help. Basically she got to the point in the end where I think she'd have blamed the school crossing lady before shouldering her part of the blame as a mother. We live in this culture now that says, "Don't take responsibilty as there will be someone else you can blame for it and probably someone you can sue". It got me thinking about our School of Leaders that we've been doing in church; we've just started level 2 which is teaching on us opening our own cells. In level 1 they looked a lot at families and we were always told that as Christians if we don't model family to the world, who will. It is so true, who will model parenting and the fact it is healthy and godly to discipline your childen; or that there is a structure to the family that God created which is best represented through a father and mother. Are we representing a godly family within the church or are we copying the worlds trend? So many thoughts going through my head at the moment!

2) I then watched a fictitious documentary last night on the assasination of George W Bush called "The Death of a President". Was very interesting and definitely gave food for thought as to whether or not it could happen. It was very much a dig at the sitting President and his actions and went along a route that could be possible with his actions during the Iraq war. What I found most chilling was the fact that this was aired on the same day that North Korea announced their nuclear weapons test....we live in such an unstable world.....am glad that I know that though I don't know everything that is going on, God does!

My guys!

You know what, after my rant of what a crappy day I'd had, I go and see these guys and they just brighten up my day. Just watching Lowri throwing a tantrum on the floor and do this attention seeking crying because nobody is picking her up, and Osian is telling me "No Memma, I'm not full of beans, I'm full of sausage and chips cracks me up and blows all my cares away...... imagine what I'll be like with my own kids!

 

It feels like it's been one of those days today.....

I arrive at work and am sat at my desk for 1/2 an hour before I realise that I'm wearing my caridgan inside out...thank goodness I was the one that noticed and not anyone else.

Next I'm walking back to my desk and nearly fall on my bum as I ungracefully twist my ankle in my new shoes and fall into my chair, with everyone looking!

Then I walk to my Dads for lunch thinking it's a lovely day and the fresh air will do me good and it decides to rain just as I'm getting ready to return to the office

And I have toothache.......

I wish I'd stayed in bed!!!! ;0

In the whole spectrum of things (poverty, war, world peace) though.....I'm doing great!! ;-)

Sunrise this morning....the picutre really doesn't do it justice

Shoes and gardens!

I went shopping with a friend on Saturday and bought some new work shoes; the ones I've been wearing for the past winter have been about 4 years old so definitely think that I need a new pair.

Anyway I broke them in today in work (a little painful but think I'll be OK ;-)
I went to see the little guys after work and Osian had me hiking up the garden, pushing him in his JCB digger whilst also dragging his wheelbarrow and spade behind me (yes I know I'm the mug!!) Anyway hope you like the picture or my shoes and him digging the garden......

As I was leaving Osian said "OK bye bye Memma, you take Lowri with you"...so we called his bluff; Amanda hands me Lowri and I start walking out of the back down the front steps with Lowri in my arms, at which point Osian just shouts "Get her" to Amanda and her mum as he realises that I've still got her....was very funny, but I suppose you had to be there!!

 

I love my bed.....part of that reason is the stars that I have hanging behind my bed....I got them from Ikea for only £10 and love them! They add just the right amount to the room with my lava lamp (which is just out of sight on the right of the picture) and its great. Sadly, as you can tell from this photo, my camera doesn't like them so much, especially mixed with the swirls of my bed spread.....

Anyway, the point of posting this, none, just wanted to show you my star lights!

I don't know whats it's like for you guys in the States at the moment, but over here there seems to be so much coverage of 9/11, more so than I've seen any other year. I don't know if it's because its the 5th anniversary this year or because of the incidents in the UK in August when there was the alleged plot to blow up trans Atlantic flights or that I'm just more aware of it this year.

I realised this evening how much all this was putting me on edge regarding coming over to visit you guys in November....the fear that the media is able to drive into us with global news coverage, remakes of incidents and plots (am currently watching a programme on BBC 2 called "The Path to 9/11") and speculation on incidents before there has been definite firm evidence seems to give this world an edge that affects our thoughts and actions. I was chatting to a friend this evening who had been to Tunisia on holiday with her family and she was saying how she felt violated being made to drink her 5 month old babies milk in front of security officers and eat his food....she just birst into tears once she had got through security due to the pressure she'd felt. Whenever I talk of my trip to the USA, people give me a run down on what I'm able to take on my hand luggage and what to look out for. Sadly a holiday now is no longer the time to look forward to where you can leave all pressures and worries at your front door as you head off....you know you're going to have a bunch of them at the airport!!

Saga of the passport - part 2

My replacement birth certificate arrived this morning...praise the Lord....except....my Dad has now lost my application for for my passport which has been countersigned, has a covering letter from me, the police and a cheque for £51 in it....So tonight is to be spent filling in another form.

Am I meant to go on holiday?!?!?!?!?

I feel a bit like this tree today....rooted in God but a bundle of I don't know what on top

It's amazing how memories can wash over you in an instant.

I went to my Dads for lunch in the hope that I'd be able to search out my Birth Certificate. Dad (as i'm sure every parent has) has some metal boxes at the bottom of his wardrobe with all important documentation in....(you'd have thought I'd have had the brains to leave my passport and certificate there!).... There were 3 boxes all together and the wealth of memories, and intimacy in those boxes overwhelmed me.

There were 3 bibles that had been given to my mum; one from the 1950's given to her on the 150th anniversary of the church she went to, there was another given to her by a friend in 1962 and another given on her wedding day by the minister that married her and Dad. There were love letters mum and dad had written to one another in the early days of their courtship as Dad had worked as a lorry driver and was away from home a lot. There were school reports for both myself and my brother, a letter I'd written home from brownie camp that was written to "Mr John Hugh Jones, Mrs Eirwen Valerie Jones and Mister Robert Gareth Jones" saying I was having "a bit of a goodtime" but that I'd asked if mum and dad could come and pick me up as I'd "cryed all the first night". There were condolence cards and letters written after mum had died and a box full of her jewellery.

Her engagement and eternity rings were there along with a pearl necklace that dad bought her for their 25th wedding anniversary but that she'd never got the chance to wear. Her nurses watch was also there from when she was a nurse over 14 years ago that still keeps great time. There were all of my brothers adoption papers there.You could almost feel all the memories rising fom the boxes as I opened them; I'd loved to have had an afternoon to go through everything.

I decided to take some of mums jewelery so that I could wear it; I'd left the rings there thinking I'd use them for when I'd get married but have decided now that when i do I would like new rings. I also took a necklace that had been hers, a yellow gold one with a crucifix on it....I can clearly remember her wearing it now. It was amazing looking at the rings...I can remember trying them on as a child, sitting next to my mum and holding onto her hand with the wedding ring on it.....sitting on the bed as she'd be getting ready for a night out and watching her put her make-up and jewelery on....so many memories that had been tucked away.....I missed her so much as they washed over me....wondered what she'd make of me now.....would she agree with my faith or be wary of it like my dad. My housemate asked me whether I felt like this daily; a dull ache of missing her...but I don't daily. That my sound harsh but I think it's the only way that I can get through life. I'm aware that there is a huge part of my life missing on it but I wonder whether I'd get up every day if I had this dull ache within me....I think thats why it comes as a shock and knocks me for 6 when incidents like this do happen and I miss her so much.

Don't really know what these thoughts mean, just wanted to put them down somewhere and what better place than here......I'm beginning to wonder whether anyone but me reads this page ;-)

OK...my week; not going well......

Not only have a lost my passport (and been a lazy bum as I've known this for months and am only just sorting it out now!) but I also seem to have mislaid my birth certificate. Of course now they need my birth certificate to issue me a new passport.....yet I think the birth certificate is whereever my old passport is......plus, the Post Office who do a check and send service on passports is now insisting that I have a police incident number from when I reported my passport lost (which I never did!!)...of course the police are saying that this is silly and that it doesn't need to be reported......and I travel to America in 11 weeks time.

If I get a passport by this time, it'll be a miracle!!

Sunset this evening; beautiful!

 

Well, I'm now nice and clean and back in the land of the living. It was such a great week; the weather wasn't too bad, the youth were well behaved and such a blessing and there were a number of giggles along the way also. Sadly there are few photos that I'm able to post as the youth are in most of them and you have to have had their parents permission to post them.

Anyway here are a couple of the big tent that we had the main services in.

Before everyone came into the big tent. I have a video clip of people rushing in to get to the front 40 minutes before it even started....madness but so cool!

Anyway it was a fab week, saldy am still shattered and not feeling the best...the weather here is more like October than August!

When I can't fit into my jeans any more, I will know that the reason is I drank one of these "chocolate mountain" drinks every night which were hot chocolate, cream and marchmallow.

The weather was bonkers. We never really had it hot, but one minute it'd be just a little cloudy with the sun coming through then it would literally change into storm weather with the clouds just brusting. They'd forecast showers but this was so much more than that!! It just poured down the roof of the big top tent, inside and out sometimes!!

I'm tired,

I smell,

I need a meal not cooked outdoors,

I need my bed.....

But it was an awesome week at Soul Survivor...I'm just glad to be back in civilisation!!

Off to the shower now!!

Below is an e-mail that I received this morning from one of my work colleaugues. This is for everyone that works in an office environment and receives these silly e-mails everyday or even if you just get them on your private e-mails. I've never been one for forwarding these e-mails but I have seen how it can have a hold on people and they truly believe that if they don't forward it something bad will happen to them

**To ALL of U: Thanks for the E:MAILS...**

I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer use cling film in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica,// //Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up �5.00 I dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.Oh, and don't forget this one either!

I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Have a wonderful day....

One thing that really winds me up is people who have an opinion yet it is so completely uninformed and unsubstantive that it borders on ignorance. What winds me up even more is when this opinion is given with passion and vigour as if that is going to make the argument any more true or correct.

Sadly there are some people that I have met this morning (I won't say in what context in case by some major fluke they read this!) that are exactly like this. This morning I was listening to the news on the radio with shivers going down my spine as they described how Heathrow is currently closed to check-ins due to the stringent demands on checking in overwhelming thier lack of staff and the fact all other airports in the UK have banned all hand luggage except documentation and small wallet/purse....no MP3 players, books, extra set of clothes, glasses case etc. Later I listened from afar to a conversation as one person said that the stringent checks and banning of hand luggage were "pathetic" and all the blame should go on "Mr Blair and Mr Bush".

Firstly do you really think that the victims of 9/11 in New York or 7/7 in London would have thought these precautions were "pathetic" if they knew it was going to halt the terrorsits as much as is humanly possible. Though I would sigh and be disappointed that the trolly load of hand luggage I normally take on such as books, games, music etc would have to go in the hold, I would be thankful that these rules were in place to protect me. Aaahhh, what is wrong with people! I am thankful that I don't know the full story, otherwise I may never go anywhere again!

Secondly, what a narrow minded view that it's all Mr Bush and Mr Blairs fault. Now I am no major patriot. I am proud to be British but know that the sun does not shine out of our PrimeMinisters bum and have become slightly exasperated with his antics of late (a conversation where it was obvious he has no backbone in conversing with Mr Bush, no denounciation of Israel's bloody attacks, rocketing house prices, ailing health and education system) but I know that there is so much more to what these terrorists hate than just 2 individuals in the spotlight. It's an attack on our democracy, and on our freedom. A statement, by killing hundreds of people, saying 'remember us, you can't bully us like you think'. I know that some of the choices that our governments have made have not been the best (eg Afghanistan, where has that got us. The Taliban is still active, we don't know when our soldiers will come home, there are still casualities and deaths there and as we take over from the American troops in the South there is more of a risk of attacks and deaths) and we've antagonised other countries but when misinformed people spout there opinion to everyone else these other people take it on as their own and the truth gets diluted a little bit more again. I mean these 20 people that have been arrested over night (apparently it was 10 flights they were targetting) were British!! Surely this says something about our country, not just the past 10 years that Blair has been in power!

It does worry me the world we live in today. The other segment on the news was about highly enriched urnanium that was removed from a research lab in Warsaw by American, Russian and Polish officials and taken to Russia to be made safe. This was so that it wouldn't fall into the hands of terrorists who could make a nuclear missile out of it.

They say that we have been put on high alert for a terrorist attack; surely we are on a state of high alert constantly now with the world that we live in.

I took this picture last week at Tryweryn. The history is that water was needed for the city of Liverpool so a compulsory purchase was passed in Parliament, much to the disagreement of Welsh members, that the valley of Tryweryn and the village of Capel Celyn would be bought and flooded to create a reservoir for the people of Liverpool. There was much protest but sadly the purchase and creation of the reservoir went ahead. When it's been a particularly hot summer you can walk down into the shallow end of the reservoir and around the footings of the Chapel and of the Post Office. You can also still see the graffiti on the stones telling the English to leave Welsh land alone. There is an air of sadness and remorse in the area. I find it a sad reflection of the relationship between the English and the Welsh...the perception that the English subdue the Welsh and that the Welsh are nationalists who despise the English. This is the the doorway of the new chapel that has been built on the side of the reservoir. Sadly the water wasn't low enough that you would see the buildings but I got this great photo from inside the chapel looking out over the water. It spoke to me of so much....darkness and light...a path to follow...hope for a better future....

I pray the people of Wales find that hope in God and God alone...that the bitterness, the burden of self deprication they carry would be cast off...that life and fullness of life would come to this beautiful countryside again.

My week

It's been such a great week and God has blessed me in so many ways.

Last Thursday I managed to catch up with a friend that I haven't seen for a couple of months, Catherine. We went round to Sharons house and had an evening of nibbles and chat. Catherine got there around 8:30 and I thought 'Well I've got work in the morning, I'll leave about 10:30 and that'll have given us a good 2 hours to talk'. Those of you that know me know I can talk the hind legs off a donkey...couple this with 2 wonderful friends who can also do this and before we knew it it was midnight....I dragged myself home and 5 and 1/2 hours after climbing into bed I got up for work!!

Friday was also great. Anne who cooks dinner for me every Thursday came to me for dinner as I'd been unable to go the evening before. She brought me flowers, which was very touching and then helped me weed the backyard!! How awesome is she!! It reminded me how we work together, in fellowship with God and one another. What ever our age, background etc, He calls us to work together for His kingdom.

The photo above I took on Saturday. I went over to Liverpool to spend the day with Rachael and we went to Lyme Park in Stockport for the day. It was lovely, Rachael had never been there before and as she is a fellow Pride and Prejudice fan she wanted to see where they'd filmed part of the series. Rachael loves ducks and I'd been puzzling over what to buy her for the house. Anyway there's a company called d.c.u.k that do wooden carved ducks and in the giftshop there was one there called Lewis, Rachaels surname. I knew I couldn't pass this up and now Lewis lives in her living room!!

Sunday I had a Eleri and Mirraelle over to lunch. Eleri has only been coming to our church a few months and I haven't had an oppurtunity to have a good chat to her, so this was a really good oppurtunity for a chat without having to rush off anywhere.

Monday was the bowling trip as I'd put about below....am still shocked by my score, thats a miracle for me!!

Tuesday Rachael and Helen came over for a Chinese. I am so envious of the summers they have planned. Helen is off to Belarus with Samaritans purse to work with young children in a camp and Rachael is off to Peru with Oak Hall/Scripture Union to help build an orphanage and see some of the country....hmmm would love to be doing something like that next summer.

Then last night I went to the cinema to see Pirates of the Caribbean with Kathy and Mike. They treated me as I'd helped Kathy out with some stuff last week. All this and I still somehow worked my 40 hours in the office!!

God has truly blessed me, all these people in my life and the great times and laughs that we have together. One friend has said that I'm not allowed to make her laaugh anymore as she laughs so much she ends up wheezing with her asthma!!

Don't know if you guys wanted to know all that (probably not ;-P) but I was aware that the enemy was beginning to wheedle his way back in with his lies about who I am and what people think of me. I suppose I needed to document my week to truly see how great God is and how much he blesses me. Also how He calls me to be a blessing to others.

A group of us went bowling last night and had such fun!

For the first time ever I got over 100, a score of111! I was so chuffed and managed to get 4 spares and 1 strike. Such fun.....I was still beaten by someone else but I'm not bitter!! What was lovely was there was a whole array of people there, different backgrounds, families, ages....We went onto Old Orleans afterwards to have fajita's for dinner which were deliciously spicey. A lady who came, is 8 & 1/2 months pregnant and there were a few concerns that the spicyness of the food would bring on labour but she was OK :-)

I miss the heat. I winged about it being to hot but now that the clouds, rain and coolness of a normal British summer are here I miss the sunshine.....hopefully it'll be back soon.

When do you know it's the hottest day of the year

You know it's the hottest day of the year when

• I wake up with sweat on the back of my neck at 3am and I've been sleeping with no covers on me anyway
• When you have a shower and 5 minutes later you know you need another one
• When the washing you hung out at 11:15 at night to dry the next day actually dries over night
• When most people are in work for 7:30 so they can finish early as the office becomes like an incubator as the temperature rises throughout the day

We're a little better off here as we are further north than places like London, but it's still going to be a hot one. Hope you all find a paddling pool somewhere to soak your weary feet, I may go and see the little guys with that idea in mind!!

Photos from camera

I love this first picture. It's shells that I picked up at the beach the other day...all so individual, unique...

OK, so I've gone a little mad with my digital camera and am just taking photos of everything at that moment!!

The photo in the post below is of Talacre Beach in Prestatyn where we took the youth last Tuesday. The sunset was amazing and I never imagined I'd be able to get a photo like that...it was a complete fluke!

Anyway here are some more below of when I went to a beach called Porth Trecastell or Cable Bay on Anglesey a week ago. The weather was amazing and there weren't that many people there. It reminds me of my teenage years as this was where we went on holiday in the caravan from when I was 11-18. I loved just walking along the shore and then going in knee deep in the water, it was so clear. I had such an awesome day....except I got sunburned! That wasn't so good.

I'll post some photos on the other blog of when I went to see Pride and Prejudice in Lyme Park....Amy you'll love the one of Mr Collins!