my weekend

hey everyone, i know its been ages since i posted, i've just been working very hard.
especially yesterday when we took the 11-14's group to Wicksteed Park (a family theme park) which was amazing but tiring. i also ate something bad i think which made me feel very sick last night :( and therefore incredibly tired today and also still not 100% well.

i've also had a few early mornings this week which has knocked me back too. i think i'm effectively working 5 or 6 days a week but even on my day off i'm using it to see friends and therefore not having time to rest. it sucks and this week is still busy, i'm working on my day off too :(
i'll have to make sure i get lots of early nights and take another evening off, and actually rest during my time off!


urgh i just knocked a glass of water all over my keyboard and my trousers! its one of those days and its not good.
we have some family round this afternoon too, but since i'm only going to space tonight and not the evening service because i dont feel great, i should get some time with my parents this evening.

in other exciting news i have officially applied to UCAS and i've started on my personal statement. i have a load of open days to go to, and lots to do with that. its exciting but scary!

anyway i'm gonna go chat to some people online :)
pray that i get rested and feel better soon!
much love xxxx

patience...

i got a big lesson in patience this evening. a group of guys at church were mucking around and making noise during the service. pretty disrespectful but i didnt say anything. i'm glad they were there and listened for some of it. just a shame they distracted a lot of other people when they weren't listening.

however my day was pretty good.
helped at LF in the morning; i got to paint and stuff :)
then rushed back to Northcourt Road to help run Pathfinders (crazy bunch of kids, lovely, but crazy!). after that i was pretty exhausted although most of it was a blur to me!

then this afternoon mum and i went shopping :) i have birthday money which was great, lots of new clothes! and just a chance to relax really, chat with mum and chill out.
before heading to church for the evvening service (see above). and then cell groups.
it went pretty well, my cell group is amazing, it was fun :D


in other news i visited beth in guildford yesterday. i've missed her so much hehe its ridiculous!
although apparently she's missed me just as much so thats ok.
me, nicola, tip and anna went and saw her for the day, it was good. we went shopping (disney store! i've had withdrawl symptoms since the oxford one shut!) and to the cinema and then met her housemates and just chatted.
unfortunately driving on a motorway at 10pm when you're tired and have a headache is not a good idea. especially if your passengers are sleepy too and so are napping!
its ok though coz i had high school musical cd on and jesus to chat to, i got home safely!

but that's pretty much all my news. got normal groups this week, but next weekend i say goodbye to anna and kate :( as they head to uni. and also go to wicksteed park with genesis (11-14's group) which is a local theme park so should be fun :)

much love xx

blah...

that's how i'm feeling to be honest.
just blah.
i'm tired...i forgot how tiring it is to go to bed at midnight and get up at 8am.
although its friday tomorrow so i can sleep until lunchtime :D

i dunno, i'm enjoying work so its not that, maybe its just that my friends are leaving and thats weird. or just because the summer had so much packed into it and now going back to normal everyday stuff is a bit of a letdown.
either way i'm feeling blah.

i'm seeing cassie for a bit this afternoon and then got a planning meeting this evening.
oooh and high school musical 2 party tomorrow! a load of us are getting together to watch the film on disney channel. food, company, good songs, cheesy acting, its all food :)

oh and on saturday i'm going to see beth :) i've missed her alot actually lol how sad is that? i guess i could just pop round and see her before but now i can't. its just different, i'm sure i'll get used to it.

peer leaders last night was good, a bit quiet but then the new people were nervous and we'd lost david, peter and anna, plus PJ wasn't there either. it was weird but ended up being really good.

dad's pretty much sorted my laptop out, bless him :) hopefully should be able to start using it on monday.
things are going ok actually.
i dunno i guess i'm just feeling tired and generally blah for no reason!

i'd better go, cassie will be picking me up in a bit.
prayers please.
much love xxxx

sorry!

its still tuesday so technically it's been less than a week since i posted!
i've just been very busy with work and stuff, alot of admin things and going to new groups etc.

actually not alot has happened, just all the church stuff i'm doing.
genesis cells tonight went well, they like to debate stuff alot which isnt a bad thing, just means i have to be careful to stop myself before actually arguing with the youth members!

space on sunday was pretty good too, we finally did my drama about getting into heaven :) it was funny if i say so myself!
cells kick off this sunday so hopefully will go ok.
although its the men's weekend away which means i'm shooting back to northcourt road from long furlong on sunday morning to help with pathfinders (which i also need to organize tomorrow!).

basically things are going well. although i'm stupidly busy, i havent got alot to talk about at the moment.
aside from my frustrations at trying to get a work computer, i have one at church but its on windows ME and doesnt have wireless yet. i was possibly getting an old laptop but its not rebuilding properly. i thought about buying a laptop but can't afford a decent one.
it's frustrating not to be able to do 'work' at church because the computer can't do the things i need it to do. but other options are going to take time, i'm not feeling very patient.


oh my gosh, i just realised that i was ranting about computers....actual technological problems. complaining about the version of windows.
i blame peter and david.
this is all your fault! when did i start talking about computers on my blog?!
apparently my life is so uneventful now that computers are the biggest news.

i'm going to go cry myself to sleep at the fact that i'm becoming one of you.
maybe tomorrow i'll post about stickers, glitter, shopping, boys, friends and everything will be ok.
please pray that this happens.


hehe much love xxx

taking a well earned break

this afternoon i've been doing alot of admin stuff which isn't too difficult, its just mind-numbingly repetitive and boring!

this morning Andy and I met with two women from Open Doors (a charity which raises money and awareness of the persecuted church) which went well, i also got offered a very interesting opportunity to possibly go out to China next summer.

now those of you who know me will laugh at this notion since i am not a 'roughing it' person and i don't really go away to do missionary work or anything...world challenge type trips are not my thing at all.
however this trip would only be for two weeks and would be with a group of about 15 people (about 18-25 year olds i believe) and our trip would be around the time of the olympics and it would be to go there and spread the word about Open Doors and stuff.
anyway the offer really intrigued me and i'm actually thinking about it, so please pray about this alot, whether the timing would work out, whether its where i'm supposed to be and whether i feel i can actually go through with it.
its exciting but also scary for me. i'll find out more in october but please pray.

other than that my three days working so far have been ok, new and overwhelming but not too bad. i am out for a takeaway night with uni students from church tonight and then tomorrow i've got some more admin stuff to do and am meeting up with my mentor type person who is a lovely woman from church.

but for now i must go and continue my work :)
much love xxxxx

dude, i've been kinda busy :p

the title is in response to david's comment on my last post!
i had my birthday on the thursday which was awesome, loads of lush presents and my parents spoilt me lol and i had a lovely meal out with friends :)

friday was incredibly busy. Beth and I went food shopping at 11am and then spent the entire afternoon transforming the hall at church into a suitable room for the formal dinner and dance. i think it went really well :) people had a good time and after the leaders left everyone sort of relaxed more and we did LOTS of dancing and just having a good time.
unfortunately beth, hannah, phil and I then got roped into helping alex clear up all the sound stuff, as well as clearing away the rubbish and decorations, this meant i didn't get home until 12.30 (party finished at 11).

saturday was a good day, i didn't do alot, i just hung out with my family and we had takeaway and stuff.
sunday was nerve-wracking! i was interviewed and commissioned in each of the church services. apparently i spoke well, which is surprising since my knees were shaking and i was soooo nervous!
in the evening we had a space social which was alot of fun, 46 youth (thats alot!) came and we played silly games and stuff. was good :)

today is my first official day of work.
i was terrified.
no kidding, i was seriously scared lol i was just nervous about starting and going to staff meeting and stuff. but it was good.
i now have alot of stuff to do hehe and alot of dates in my diary for stuff i will be doing in the future!
which leads me on to the fact that i have to go, i have to fill in some forms, rewrite a drama, organize my diary and phone a load of people!
will try and write more often, ok? :P
hehe much love xxxxxx

last week of freedom

it is my birthday tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!
8 hours and 44 minutes!
and i will become an adult!
well actually technically i was born at 8pm or something but since my driving license doesnt dictate a time, i can go out! and buy alcohol legally and vote lol although who knows who i'd vote for!

i'm extremely excited :D especially since i'm like the last one to turn 18 in my group of friends.
i'll be getting up early to open pressies before pj goes to school and mum goes to work (my dad is working at home i think). then i'll be stopping in at my nan and grandad's before going to the hairdressers to be pampered for a couple of hours.
then i'm back to chill out before getting ready to go out for my birthday meal. about 15 of us girls (and gareth obviously) are going to frankie and benny's for dinner and cocktails :)

and then on friday it's the dinner and dance. i'm excited about that too! although i still have quite a bit to do before then :s

as for today, i am chilling out at home, doing some dinner and dance stuff and generally just enjoying my last week of freedom before i start my gap year.
speaking of which, i'm going to a meeting of the LF kids leaders tonight which will be good, means i get to meet everyone and see whats happening!

i know i'll get asked what it's like to be 18 and most people say it's no difference but to me it will be. especially because i'm the last one and it'll mean i can finally go to the pub and things with my friends and just not have to worry about 'being old enough'.
i don't know whether that makes sense but i know tomorrow will be good.
i'm one of these people who absolutly loves birthdays. i love getting gifts for other people on their birthdays and going out and celebrating, i love the hype and balloons and presents and hugs. i especially love it when its my own birthday :) which is tomorrow!!!
8 hours and 37 minutes to go :D
much love xxxxxxxxx

p.s. i expect lots of comments since it's my birthday tomorrow!

up, up, up and away!

wow and holiday club is over for another year!
the theme this year was aeroplanes which meant alot of model planes and alot of song actions involving pretending to fly!
basically i was leading a small group and also kat and i were doing actions for the songs in the 'runway' sessions (yes the week was full of cheesy plane associations just like that!)

on monday we had set-up day which meant all the team (leaders and teenage helpers) gathered at church to decorate and plan and generally work too hard. we then got our usual pep talk from val (overall leader of holiday club) and then everyone left...except for about a dozen people, including david, kat, pj and i since our parents are main leaders and we got roped into staying to finish some painting and clearing up.
we then of course took refuge in the creche room in order to escape doing any more work and ended up playing with kids toys for a while- during this time vikki (kat and david's amazing cousin) also turned up which was awesome :)

tuesday started the first of four days of full holiday club. this meant the kids were with us from 9.30-12.30 but it felt like alot longer. they had a main 'runway' session with puppets, songs and general fun. then a craft/games session. then small group time (i had to plan and then run this for my small group) and then back into 'runway' for another session with drama, quiz and more songs. then we had to take the kids back to their rooms to dismiss them to parents.

my small group was good, i had 8 kids who all got on and didnt really cause any trouble, i managed to get through most of what i planned each day. i was part of 'Heathrow' which was the 5-6 years old age group. nice kids, tend to listen to you and respond well to stickers and other silly stuff i love.

tuesday evening pj and i held a sleep-out at our house, it was a fun evening invloving alot of silly games, pizza and some inappropriate innuendo on the trampoline lol. although at 1am i decided to go inside and sleep in my own bed since as one of three small group leaders there, i couldnt lead a group on less than 6 hours sleep. the other two were david (who i believe fell asleep relatively quickly) and anna (who decided that 1am was a good time to go on the trampoline with beth and hannah- both of whom didnt have holiday club the next morning).
needless to say we were all tired the next morning but it was good fun.

wednesday was slightly less chaotic than tuesday but still was pretty hectic.
i then went to the cinema with kat, vikki and david to watch the bratz film- before you scoff, we accept that the film is going to be cheesy and rubbish but we know we can laugh at that and find it entertaining.
however you may scoff since it was the second time i saw it in the space of 2 weeks.
then in the evening was mike's birthday bbq which was fun, although i now know it wasnt just me who didnt mesh well with whatsherface. i left pretty early coz i was tired.

thursday is the day of holiday club that is the worst. monday is exciting coz we're setting up, tuesday is the first day with kids, wednesday is when it gets calmer, friday is the last day so always fun. but thursday is the day when your tiredness hits you full on in the face, i had to lean pretty heavily on god to find the energy to get through it.
the 'runway' session was particularly good since david got flanned! we have a tradition in godzone where the leaders get flanned sometimes but there's a strict no-under-18's policy and since david isn't going to be here for the first godzone of term, andy and my mum flanned him at holiday club instead. (i will be here for the first godzone of term, i will be 18, i have no doubt that my nemisis james ross is planning to get me. now i just have to flee the country before sunday 9th)

thursday evening was alot of fun too. nicola, tip, gareth, anna and i went to millets maize maze (a local garden centre plant a whole field of maize and then cut a maze out of it each year) but we went especially for the torchlight session! going round a field in dark is fun! a little scary if you let yourself listen to the noises but since there were alot of people doing it, we just had alot of fun....and maybe cut through the walls of the maze a bit!
then when we'd found all the clues we went to the wizard (clearly a uni student on holiday trying to earn some money) and got our ice-lollies as prizes.
you have to accept that this was a maze aimed at kids, doesnt mean we enjoyed it any less!
we also met some random people who decided that they loved gareth, especially this one girl. turns out they go to fitzharrys and sort of know hannah burfitt (pj's girlfriend).

friday was a looooooooooooooong day!
the morning bit was good, the kids enjoyed it. although one of my kids was particularly hyperactive. luckily i happened to get stevie as an extra teenage helper that morning (if you don't know who stevie is then this will be lost on you....and i also pity you.) and stevie watched him for me.
the end of the morning was a bit of a down but i got to spend alot of time with katy (my 8 year old god-sister. 8 going on 18.)
and then in the afternoon i went home to get some rest...unfortunately i also had to go with anna to tesco's to buy some things we needed for our plan (explained in a minute).
which meant i sat down for maybe 30 minutes in total before having to go back to church.
where alot of people were setting up for the evening holiday club bbq.
it was alot of fun and i got to see alot of kids and parents that i know.

and then anna and i executed our plan.
we gunged andy.
yep, that andy, our youth worker, andy.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
it was brilliant! we put on capes and masks and flew in from the back and gunged him with porridge, cornflour and baked beans! (all prepared earlier)
unfortunately we hadn't thought the plan through properly....we'd ensured that andy was sat in a paddling pool that would catch all the gunge....we just didnt think what we'd do with the gunge afterwards.
anyway we ended up carrying the paddling pool about 10 metres to tip the gunge down the drain, we then had to wash out the paddling pool and wash around the drain and then let down the paddling pool...all of which took about an hour and a half! (big thanks to joe, richard, mike, pj and hannah who helped us clear all this up!)

i still think it was worth it.


unfortunately a whole week of holiday club, and also busy evenings too, has taken its toll on my body. it reacted how it always does to tiredness- i have a sore throat and a sniffly nose.
i am dosed up and hoping it'll go quickly.

in other news i have more info on how i'll be spending my gap year :) i will be at long furlong on sunday mornings to do kids work and then back in space for the evenings.
should be brilliant to be in a new group, and holiday club gave me a great opportunity to meet alot of the LF kids and leaders.
however i don't start work until monday 10th. which is brilliant! it means i have time to rest up after holiday club, and i have my birthday off too!
its especially good since i have alot of stuff to do for the dinner and dance which is this friday!
i need to send out more tickets, chase some people up about buying tickets, order decorations, sort awards, sort food out. i have alot to do!

but you did read that correctly, it is my birthday this week!
on thursday 6th september to be exact. and i will be turning 18!
i will be able to vote, and legally buy alcohol!
i'm looking forward to going out with my friends too. i have a hair appointment so my hair will look gorgeous and we're going to frankie and benny's (my favourite restaurant!) and having a meal and cocktails and generally a good time :)

anyway i think that's everything i have to write about. wow this is a long post!
i will write more this week no doubt, especially my birthday and the dinner and dance :)
much love xxxxxxx