The Life of Naomi Ruth

Pintrest

2012-02-23T08:03:00.000-08:00

Several of my housemates have had a 'Pintrest' for a while but I figured that as I already have a blog, am on Facebook, and have a Twitter account that I shouldn't really get another 'page'.

I gave in

I was sat in the lounge the other day and Sarah was showing us her Pintrest page which she has used to 'pin' wedding ideas on. I then looked through Kirsty's and decided that I did want one but that I'd only use it a little and would definitely NOT put any wedding things on...

I gave in... although, not too badly! I am resisting, its just some people's 'Pins' are so pretty!! :)

Here is my latest 'Pin':

I just though it was so beautiful... and of course so true! Just to clarify... it is a reference to God's love for us... see verses such as Hosea 2:19, Deuteronomy 4:24, and so many more!

As you can see though, I haven't gone crazy on 'pinning' wedding things, with only 3 vaguely related 'pins'... Which is good, especially as a girl! It has been really funny looking at friend's pages and noting just how many have a 'board' dedicated to weddings... and so many are single! Ah, girls! :)

I've had much more fun looking at ideas for a home! :)

Please, take a look at my 'pintrest' page :)

Search me and know me

2012-02-21T05:46:00.000-08:00

I read this last night and was just struck by the beauty of it.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

(Psalm 139 ESV)

A prayerful person's heart...

2012-02-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

'[A prayerful person's] heart is ever lifted up to God at all times and in all places. In this [they are] never hindered, much less interrupted, by any person or thing... [Their] heart is ever with the Lord. Whether [they] lie down or rise up, God is in all [their] thoughts; [they walk] with God continually.'
- John Welsey

This is such a challenge. A beautiful challenge. And it is something I've desired for such a long time.

I want to be someone who is consistently in a place of prayer. Someone who doesn't mind stopping and praying for someone crying on the train, someone who prays for those around her continually. Sometimes prayer can feel like such a burden when I know I have to pray for someone, but when I finally pray I feel like I could pray for hours. I just need to place my heart in such a place.

I want my heart to be 'ever with the Lord'. It would be so amazing. To have God in my heart and mind and soul continuously would result in me having such a close relationship with Him. A relationship I'd do anything for - however hard that may be to say... and actually do.

The repercussions of such a heart and place of prayer would be wholesome and pure. It would be harder for me to sin. When I'd sin, I'd immediately repent and ask for forgiveness. In receiving that forgiveness my heart would be so full of God's grace. This would lead to me being more gracious and patient with those around me. Which would lead to a clear pouring of God's love on those around me. Which would, I'd hope and have seen, lead people to be more loving and gracious to those around them.

This cycle would lead to a deeper understanding of God's amazing grace and love and would lead to a deeper relationship with Him.

Please pray that I will have a prayerful person's heart and that this would lead to growth in my relationship with Him.

And please challenge me to pray for you, even if you just bump into me in the street.

Christ-Centred Worship

2012-02-01T03:05:00.000-08:00

'Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord being tuned, not to each other, but to one standard to which each one must bow. So one hundred worshippers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship' - A.W.Tozer

How beautiful is that! When we worship together, focussing on Christ, we are united and we sing and pray as one. This seems to make sense of the idea that we will all worship in one voice in Heaven - the voice of that focussed on Christ.

This notion of true Christ-centred worship is just beautiful. The worship that focusses on Christ's awesome power rather than our problems or even our "awesomeness" in pride. How amazing is it to be able to sit back and think that all that matters in life, ALL that matters, is Christ and His person; what He has done for us; His love for us. In the end of the day it doesn't matter if I leave uni with a first or a third, ALL that matter is Christ. It doesn't matter if I find a job, ALL that matters is Christ. It doesn't matter whether I ever get married or have children, ALL that matters is Christ. How freeing is that!!

I'm not at all saying its easy if stuff doesn't happen in our lives, but if we re-align our focus to Christ, all that we get is blessing and in the end of the day, we have to worship. We're drawn to worship Him because He truly is worthy of it.

'HE is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by HIM all things were created, in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through HIM and for HIM. And HE is before all things, and in HIM all things hold together. And HE is the head of the body, the church. HE is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything HE might be pre-eminent. For in HIM all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through HIM to reconcile to HIMself all things, whether on earth or in Heaven, making peace by the blood of HIS cross.
And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, HE has now reconciled in HIS body of flesh by HIS death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before HIM...'
- Colossians 1:15-23

How amazing is it when we focus on Christ and His glory!

Please also take a look at my boyfriend, Tom's, blog :)

Injuries and drama

2012-01-28T04:22:00.000-08:00

Well the last few days have been pretty dramatic...

On Wednesday night, walking up the stairs, I hurt my left hip. I have no idea how but it just started grinding so much that I was carried to bed. The next day attempting to walk carefully downstairs after getting all dressed up ready to meet Tom, I slipped and fell down 5/6 steps. While falling I whacked my right elbow along the banister several times then fell onto it while attempting not to land on my left hip. I screamed out and my friends came running, in the midst of tears I decided that the pain was just shock and so Chris went to get me a drink and Laura returned to her cooking. A couple of moments later I was in tears again and realised that I really probably should go to hospital. Laura drove me up - abandoning her home-made soup.

We rang Tom on our way up and he came and met us after rushing through the getting ready process - we realised just how much he rushed when we were waiting in the waiting room and I commented on the fact that he was wearing a top I had got him... at which point he looked really confused thinking that he was wearing a top that his mum had bought him. That was really quite a funny moment.

Well, I had an X-ray and they said that there aren't any breakages, but as there is so much pain coming from one part that I'm to go back to the fracture clinic on Monday... so we'll see what they say then!

In regards to my hip... I rang NHS Direct on Wednesday night and they said to take pain killers and wait a couple of days and if its not better then to go to the Doctors. So yesterday I took a trip to the Doctors... they have decided that my hip pain is due to the physiotherapy I'm receiving for my back.. GREAT! The Doctor has told me not to do any exercise which is a bum as I was hoping to do pilates which would fix my back problems. She also gave me some super-strong pain killers (which still don't really do much) and told me to see how it goes for the next 10-14 days and if its not better then they'll x-ray it... this would be fine if it didn't hurt to walk so much...

This has all meant to doing anything is really difficult so I basically have to rely on everyone else to do everything for me... which is fine if I'm with Tom, but relying on anyone else is really difficult. So, I'm not getting much work done (its my right arm) and I'm in pain and I have to rely on others to do anything... so, things are going great!

Oh, Tom, my dear boyfriend, has started writing a blog. Its mainly on sports stuff so if you/someone you know is interested in sports then send them over to Tom's Blog. I hope all is well for you :)

Walking with God

2012-01-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

Over the last week it's been on the back of my mind that I am not as close to God as I used to be.

I don't know if this an age thing, and in growing up I have become less 'emotion based' and so I don't get the 'bubbly feelings' any more. Or maybe I'm just in a time where I don't 'need' God so obviously. Of course, I always need Him, but throughout my first year at Aber I suffered from depression and my family was going through a really tough time, in this year I felt God really closely. I guess life in general is much better than it was and I'm no longer suffering from depression, maybe then I don't need so much obvious support and closeness to keep me going.

I've just found it difficult remembering walking with Him and being close to Him, being confident of who I was in Him and in His love for me. I know things are always greener on the other side, and I'm not saying it was like this all the time, but I just miss it.

I remember walking around Aber, on the sea front or up Constitution Hill and feeling God there, right next to me. I used to feel Him in my room with me and I'd regularly worship at the top of my lungs in my room and spend hours with Him reading my Bible.

I'm currently in the process of reading three books: 1. Growing in Christ, 2. Knowing God, 3. Disciplines of a Godly Woman. They have already taught me quite a bit. I've finished the first section of Growing in Christ and it was really helpful at looking at the basics of the Christian faith, in a lot of detail. Packer goes through the Apostle's Creed bit by bit and explains it, taking each section back to Christ's faithfulness and love for us. Knowing God looks at more practical ways of getting to really know God and Disciplines of a Godly Woman (which I've only just really started) looks at spiritual discipline that will help us grow.

While all these books focus on the Gospel and God's greatness and are really very great, I've finding it hard to understand the Gospel in its fullness again, I just don't know how. I've been working my way through John's gospel which has been really helpful, but again I'm left with the same issue. - It feels awkward.

I feel really very awkward when I feel like God may be drawing closer, and so I push away. I don't want to, its just a reaction. I find the same thing when I pray with people or talk with people about God, I just feel like 'whoa this is so cheesy and cringe worthy'.

I do know that God is good, and I know He is faithful, but I want to be able to walk with Him again and not feel awkward, not feel cheesy and not feel weird. He is a good God and I know that in His time He will bring me back into His arms.

Freshers Flood

2011-10-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, last week was rather crazy - the freshers arrived!

Aber is again considerably busier than it has been for months and it is impossible to find a decent parking space! I've now gotten into the habit of when I get a parking space near the house, I don't use my car for a few days so that I can keep the spot - makes no sense really as I'm not benefiting from the parking space as I'm not using my car from it... but I guess it's there in emergencies!

I've been really good this term (so far)! I have only driven up the hills once and that was to help take things up for Fresher's Fayre! :) That makes a massive difference to last year! Oh, and it isn't just because I haven't been going up the hill because I have! :) I've walked up it loads in the last few weeks - more than I did in the whole of last year probably!

Having the freshers arriving also meant lots of CU/Church events... freshers' week was very busy! I didn't get involved as much as I would have liked though (I slept through prayer meeting and so didn't get to sign up to things - but I did ask to be on things any way :) )... We had a lot of freshers round at our house after the events though so we've definitely gotten to know people which is great :)

In fact, after CU on Friday Malcolm, Laura, Kirsty and I came home with a group of freshers (8/10 of them) and had just started playing a game when Isaac and folk came in with nearly everyone else! It was insane! We didn't even count how many there were but there were more than enough for an EPIC game of Articulate... we had 6/7 groups of 5-6 people... it was crazy! But fun :)

Sunday lunches have also been a bit crazy... Fresher's Sunday we invited back a group of people and I ended up making roast dinner for 18 people (Thank you Jesus for multiplying food! <- He's good at that!) and then last Sunday we made dinner for 20 people! 38 people in a week can't be bad! I was quite impressed if I say so myself, I've never really been amazingly skilled at the cooking front but people seemed to really like it (in fact, some were commenting to others about how good it was) :D

I was going to title this blog post 'back to routine', but I haven't really yet settled into a routine... this week is a seminar-less week and I have been given LOADS of shifts at work so it's been a bit crazy and definitely not standard routine...

Also, a quite add... thank you ever so much to Rachel from Dreaming of the Country for giving me a blog award :) And a very big welcome if you've found me through her post! :)

Summer comes to an end...

2011-09-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

Summer is now swiftly coming to an end and things are starting to normalise again...

This summer has been really quite good. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CARE and loved 'working' in London for those 5 weeks. It definitely tickled my taste buds for the future. I've just in fact been looking at possible posts in London for myself next year if I were to do a part-time Masters - I've decided I'm going to apply for a Masters!

It has also been wonderful seeing friends of mine get married! The Brights and the Sweeneys both got married this summer and to have been part of such wonderful events was lovely. They are wonderful people and I am looking forward to seeing how God uses them as couples in the future! :)

While that has all been wonderful, my highlight for this summer has to be the time I've spent with my family. I haven't spent too much time at home as I was staying in London for a large chunk of the holidays, but what I have spent at home has been wonderful. Now I'm back in Aber I'm really going to miss them! In fact, I only left yesterday and I already really miss them!

It's been exceptionally wonderful spending time with my sisters getting to know them better. As siblings the tendency to fight with each other and argue when we were younger was very strong, but now that we're all growing up we can have civilised conversations! and much more of course! :) I really do love them both greatly and will really miss them!

Here are some photos of us (and my cousins) messing around a few weeks ago...

Show Off Your Shot Winner!

2011-09-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Last week I entered into the Show Off your Shot competition... (here's the post if you missed it Show Off your Shot)...
Well, I was a winner :) It's very exciting! :) I think I'm going to get more into this...

Drive time

2011-08-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday (23rd) I got to spend nearly a whole day with my sisters, it was wonderful!

I had to collect them from a little cottage half an hour outside of Aberystwyth where they were staying with my grandparents then drive them home to Nottinghamshire to my mum... my granddad had welled up when we were getting ready to leave and told to me to make sure I drove very carefully as if anything happened to us it'd kill him... no pressure!! (Of course, I do tend to drive carefully and wouldn't want anything to happen anyway)

After I picked them up we drove back to Aberystwyth. I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye again yet and wanted to show my sisters my new house... we then went to the beach for a while...

After playing around for a bit we then set off to Nottingham... However, not long out of Aber, we had to make another photo stop!

The journey back was hilarious. The three of us sang at the top of our voices for close to 5 hours non-stop! Our throats were starting to hurt by the end... but it was worth it!

Esther also took lots of photos of the Welsh countryside on the way back, but they're her photos so I shan't put them up here as I don't want to get done for copyright! :P

I really enjoyed the drive back, and while it is always scary driving with both of them in the car (all mum's eggs in one basket), it was wonderful spending some fun time with them. I definitely feel like I'm growing closer to them! :)

Mr and Mrs Bright

2011-08-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

Another summer month, another wedding...

The 20th August saw another two of my friends get married. It was such a wonderful weekend!

Here are some photos from the wedding day...

I'm looking forward to going back in September and spending some time with them both :) They're going to be living in the flat above my boyfriend :)

They're wonderful individuals and are a wonderful couple. I'm sure God will bless and use them both immensely... to the happy couple! :)

My wonderful family :)

2011-08-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

I have a wonderful family! :)

Show Off Your Shot

2011-08-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

A few friends of mine take part in photo competitions/shares... I thought I'd start having a go too :)

The idea for Show off Your Shot is simply that... a photo that you want to show off! :)

So here it is... my entry for this week...

I took this photo at the Belvior Castle 2011 firework competition. It was a really beautiful night, but this photo has got to be my favourite! I love the way the fireworks look like stars and the effect of the smoke behind the tree.

The Shack

2011-08-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

I know writing a post about The Shack now seems a little outdated but today I finished reading it.

I started reading The Shack nearly a year ago but put it down when uni reading became more of a priority, I picked it up today and finished it.

This book is such an emotional roller-coaster... and the emotion it brings is wonderful. I really like a book that brings me in and The Shack certainly achieves that.

The story is beautiful.

While it is beautiful and emotive and a wonderful piece of written work, sadly it has had a lot of controversy around it.

After The Shack was published it received an immediate response from the Christian community praising how amazing the book was and how it would be an amazing tool for evangelism. In fact, the cover of the book quotes "This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!".

However, after the immidiate hype came a somewhat longer lasting criticism of the book as theologically incorrect. Some of the issues include the portrayal of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Another is that of the 'logistics' of forgiveness.

Reading this book, I must admit that, as the writer states will probably occur, I am left with a greater desire for close relationship with God. Despite possible theological inaccuracies.

I think there are a couple of important things to remember when reading The Shack;

1. It was written by a non-Christian as a fictional book... he is not a theologian.

2. We should always question what we read. There are many books written which we, the Christian community, will priase simply because it is written by Wayne Grudem, John Piper, John Stott etc. We still need to question what we read and come to conclusions for our selves. This works in two ways. Firstly, we engage in what we are reading greater and therefore take away more. Secondly, we are not naive when discussing 'hot topics' such as the theological correctness of The Shack; I have had too many conversations about The Shack with people criticising it without having read it themselves.

The issue of the portrayal of God the Father ('Papa') in The Shack firstly as a woman I know has caused many to react. I would like to state however that God is outside gender. Our God is greater than our imagination and our understanding. Also, in The Shack, 'Papa' later appears as a man, a Father, He explains that Mack's issues with his father led to his needing to see God as outside of gender, and approach Him first as a big black woman to break down his stereotypes and his problems with "fathers". This, I believe, reveals God greatly! God reveals Himself understanding of our needs and difficulties, and in a way best restoring our relationship with Him.

How beautiful is that?!

I would urge anyone and everyone to read The Shack. It will bring you to tears, make you laugh, and leave you with a greater desire to know God personally. I have never read such a beautiful and challenging story... other than that of Jesus of course...

Blessings x

The Sweeney Wedding

2011-07-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw the wedding of two of the most wonderful people I know.. Hannah Purnell and Alistair Sweeney.

The wedding was beautiful!

It was such a moving wedding. I found it so hard not to cry all the way through!

It was really moving and the love they have for each other and God was so clear throughout the whole service.

Ali's speech at the reception was so moving! I nearly cried!

(the lego was Ali's one request)

After the honeymoon the Sweeneys will be off to Leicester to start a church with a church plant from their current church in Derby. I know that God will use them both greatly. They are a wonderful and wonderfully blessed couple.

I am so happy for them :)

Les Miserables

2011-07-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was so much fun!

So, I'd been walking around London on my own after work and stuff in the first week and saw loads of people having fun with their friends and I just really wanted to be with people I knew! Wednesday was a real treat.

A group of people from uni came to London to see Les Mis :)

We went for dinner, then headed to the theatre. It was so much fun! On arriving at the restaurant I didn't stop talking for ages!

Here are some pictures of us at the restaurant:

After enjoying our food we headed off to the tubbeeee....

And to the theatre...

It was a really good production! I hadn't seen it before so it was really exciting! :)

I definitely recommend it to anyone!

Affirmation and Appreciation

2011-07-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last week and this week have gone past so fast! I didn't even realise it was already Wednesday - and that's nearly over now!

But to update you on my time in London...

So, I've been doing this work for CARE - researching and writing a paper for them - and it's been really interesting, but I kinda felt like it was something given to me because they needed to find something for me to do. I felt like this because no one else in the office seems to be looking at the same area... but then again, nothing overly major is happening in that area at the moment so I do understand why they're not frantically looking into it.

I was feeling a bit bummed out about it until last Wednesday.

Last Wednesday we had a Public Affairs: London meeting. This involved me, the human trafficking and prostitution officer, a guy that has volunteered with them for the year, the guy in charge of me, and the guy in charge of all mentioned. It was a really interesting meeting in that I got to know a lot more about what everyone had been doing. I managed to suggest something of real use to them too and have managed to implement it too which is really good! :)

The main thing I took from this meeting though was a real sense of appreciation and affirmation. What I have been spending all my time on, is actually really useful to them! That made me feel much much better about everything and gave me much more enthusiasm which is good :)

The rest of the working week panned out as normal really... but the evenings were a bit more interesting!

More about them (and some piccies) in the next post! :D

Commuting hens?

2011-07-04T01:28:00.000-07:00

One week down, four to go... and the blisters to prove it! 5 blisters on each foot... that's got to be a record!

So, I'm in London at the moment doing an internship for an organisation called CARE. They are a Christian organisation that work in politics. My task is to do research for topics they may want to talk about/report on. I've really enjoyed looking at areas that I wouldn't normally look into such as same-sex marriage rights and issues around the 'gay-gene'. It has really pushed me out of my comfort zone but has been really exciting all the same and I've learnt a lot already. I have a desk in an room with four other people - the 'public affairs' team - and everybody is really lovely.

The commute however is a little exhausting... and when I say a little, I mean a lot. I leave Sarah's house at 7.00am every morning and get into the office at around 8.45 for a 9 o'clock start. After the day in the office, I then leave at around 5.15 and get back to Sarah's for around 7.00. Definitely not an easy commute. And after this weekend I'm even more tired.

This weekend was Hannah's hen do. It was a really lovely weekend in Suffolk. We were in a beautiful house and right next to the beach. We even went on a speed boat ride! While the speed boat ride was exciting, I'm rather afraid of deep water and I got off the boat feeling a bit unwell. All in all though it was a really good weekend. It was lovely seeing Hannah again. I'm really excited for her and she's moving to Leicester which is great because then I'll probably be able to see her a bit more! : )

I'm really enjoying my time here in London, but I am missing people a lot! I ended up driving for an extra 3-4hours yesterday purely so I could see my mum! I'm also really missing Tom and would love people to be around here. It's really nice walking around a little after 6 and seeing so many people enjoying themselves and the buzz of people in restaurants etc. I just wish I could join with that.

Moving House

2011-06-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

One piece of advice I have for all of you is; do not, if you can help it, move house when you are ill. I sadly, could not help it. I had no choice but to move house with a fever.

After finishing exams and enjoying a break I was planning on receiving keys to my new house on the Sunday 5^th June with the intentions of enjoying a slow moving process throughout the week after. However, on the Friday before, I received some wonderful news; I was to move out of my old house on the 5^th June. Joys! So I had 2 days to pack up my stuff, clean around and move out.

The stress of it all sadly got to me a bit more than I had hoped and expected. The Saturday night saw very little sleep as I tossed and turned boiling up and needing a lot of water both in me and on me to cool down. This made moving day a wonderfully exciting prospect...?!

Sunday arrived and I drove my car to the new house full of wonderfully heavy items ready to move into the house. After church we went along to our new house to be spoken to about fire, gas, electricity, water etc and to receive our keys. My health was probably most evident while we were listening to the landlord explain everything when I suddenly had to make my way to the stairs to take a seat to stop myself from either throwing up or collapsing. Then for moving the stuff in!

Thankfully I did receive some help moving in, and later moving out (next car load) which was very much needed!

After moving in completely, moving out completely, and cleaning up completely, it was really nice to be able to enjoy the evening in the house with most of the housemates for the first night.

Although moving in was a bit stressful, I am very much so looking forward to next year, and it really is a very nice house!

Birthday weekends

2011-05-23T02:22:00.000-07:00

My birthday is on 4th May, my cousin's is on the 6th May. It was tradition that every year we would have a birthday weekend on the May Day Bank Holiday, however as I moved to Aber last year we weren't able to do so.

On Thursday I came home for the weekend as a surprise as it was mum's birthday on Sunday. I texted my youngest sister and asked her to postpone tea for me and make sure mum didn't know. However, by the time I had arrived it was pretty clear that I was coming as Esther had asked for an extra place setting to be set for her imaginary friend... oh dear...

We were all ready for a birthday weekend for me and mum when on Friday my aunt asked whether they should be arriving on the Friday night or the Saturday morning. My other sister (Rebekah) had invited them, which was 100% fine, but had not told mum that they had said yes!

So Esther and myself, after a lovely walk in the grounds....

set to tidying the house!

My Aunt, Uncle and two cousins were here for the Friday night and Saturday and it was a lovely day :) We sat and had a picnic breakfast and lunch in the garden while our Uncle practised his first aid for a test on us - Rebekah was awfully good at playing dead! After that we went for another walk in the grounds... there's a beautiful bit with a lake that I've never been to which shows just how lazy I am! They hold weddings by the lake - its so beautiful! We collected pine cones as well for the fire :)

It's been a wonderful weekend, yesterday (Mum'd birthday) was wonderful too with lots of food, puzzles and a lovely walk :)

It's been a really nice weekend just relaxing at home :)

20...

2011-05-05T04:41:00.000-07:00

I must apologise for not writing as much recently, it is the end of term and essays, exams, and the sun are becoming very prominent in my life for now.

I was just on facebook procrastinating and found a quote on a friend's status:
'When you have no helpers, see all your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God; when you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord.' -Charles H. Spurgeon

I just thought it was really beautiful, and rather relevant for this time of year; when things are busy and focus is on so much that God can get pushed out of the picture.

I realise that I haven't said anything about New Word Alive since returning, and this is a fail
indeed.

New Word Alive was really helpful for me. I found it both encouraging and challenging.

I am going to share a couple of things from that week...

1. God is all.
One thing that has stuck with me the most is that God doesn't need us, that we aren't important. Now, don't get me wrong, He wants us and to Him we are incredibly important and precious. But for His plan to work, we aren't the responsible ones.
We have our roles, but we aren't needed:

It isn't our faith... it's God's faithfulness.

2. To love God, we must understand His love for us.
In life people may let us down. Friends, family and loved ones can make us feel unloved. But we still love them. This love for them, however, can be from our own will (even if only for a short while). We can choose to love them anyway.
With God, a being that we can't always see and feel, it can be really hard to love Him. I know that sounds terrible, but it's true... at least for me. But I know that the only way I can love Him is through His love for me.
Just think about that for a moment...

The only way I can love Him, is through His love for me...

While that can sound like a 'cop-out', handing all responsibility over to God, it is amazing in itself! and guess what... God already has that responsibility, not in a burdensome way, but because He is Love!

When we find it hard to love God, just think about His love for us... remind yourself of the Gospel and all its greatness!

It is so freeing to realise that everything is on God!

This doesn't mean that we are to be lazy... God's love should spur us into action and love for others.

Tapping into the source of Love can only lead to a constant flow of love!

It is so beautiful to think of God and His love for us! :)

And what a beautiful thing to reflect on in the first steps of my year as 20! :)

The Joy that overflows with His Love!

Ladybirds and Daisy's :)

2011-04-21T03:50:00.000-07:00

I was meant to be studying... I got a little distracted for a while...

Spring is here :)

2011-03-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

A beautiful friend of mine asked me to place more pictures on here, so I thought that as spring has arrived I would do so.

It's been beautiful in Aberystwyth recently, a definite change of season. And the beauty of it can be seen everywhere and it shines off everyone!

Everyone is so happy :) I love that when spring arrives, it seems to bring a spring in people's steps. People have been flocking to the beach and everyone is so happy :)

And nothing can take away from how beautiful the sunsets are...

How God has blessed me so!

Just a little thought to leave you with:

'For God is not a God of confusion but of peace'

(1 Corinthians 14 vs 33)

8 weeks and counting...

2011-03-23T01:38:00.000-07:00

If the exam timetable doesn't change, in 8 weeks time I will have finished my second year!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone and I know that next will go by just as fast if not faster!

Soon I will no longer be a student (and will hopefully have a degree).

I don't want to enter the real world yet... I may do a Masters! That'll give me an extra year to avoid the world.

One benefit of finishing in 8 weeks is that I get a 4 and a half month summer! Woohoo! I'll be spending most of May/early June on the beach and enjoying myself...

Until I get kicked out of my house...

Then what to do...

So I've been trying to find a placement of some sorts since November, however I still have had no success. I'm currently waiting to hear back from Care about an Internship, which I would love. Though I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm also waiting for the application to open for a Stop the Traffik Internship, which I would also love.

I really want to make good use of this summer. To go into anything related to International Politics can be really though, and so many people have a substantial amount of experience - something I lack - so this summer will have to be put to good use!

Marseilles in Pictures

2011-03-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

So, as I'm procrastinating, I thought I'd put up some photos from Marseilles.

Let me know what you think :)

Sunshine and sleep

2011-03-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

A week and a half after Marseilles and I need a holiday again!

After handing in two essays on Monday, I'm not happy that I have yet another two essays to write before the end of next week. It has completely worn me out! Though I don't think the essays are all to blame. The SUN!

The sun has been absolutely wonderful over the last week, really bright and warm... BUT when it comes to being woken up at 6.30/7.00 every day, it's not so great. I do love my window and my amazing sea view, but I really wish the sun would wait till 7.30/8.00 to wake me up! I'm looking forward to the clocks changing in two weeks time so this will be the case. I just want to be able to sleep! I try to be in bed around 12 every night (tonight I've been in bed since 9.30!) so I can get a good nights sleep, but I just don't want to be woken up before my alarm. It's nice every now and then, but not every day, and definitely not during essay period!

So, rant about the sun over, essays... So I've written an essay on conflict in Africa, which was actually really enjoyable to write, and an essay on on-line news sources, which wasn't so enjoyable, but now I'm writing an essay on the Rwandan genocide, and an essay on human trafficking. Makes for a pretty fun week, not! Though I do find it interesting, and maybe if I was getting proper sleep I wouldn't be so wound up.

However, on a more positive note, I had a pretty good weekend. Saturday night was Tom's birthday 'do'; 12 of us went to Pier Brasserie for a meal and then some of us went back to Tom's to play Scattegories and Jungle Speed. It was quite weird for me as it was the first time I've ever been the girlfriend for someone's birthday, so things like cake came down to me. I was actually really nervous. There was no way I was going to bake a cake as that would have made me so much more nervous, what if it went wrong and no one liked it?!, so a Cadbury Flake cake it was. Can't go wrong with chocolate!

Sunday was also a really good day. I spent the day with God. I came back from church, put some worship music on then did some painting while singing. I then did a bit of reading and listened to a talk while sat in my window watching everyone on the beach and the promenade. It was a beautiful day. I'm still working through Faith Like a Child and what I read on Sunday was really great. At church we were told to offer a gift that we have to God and ask him to use it. I had absolutely no idea what to write, and after a while I settled with empathy. One of the chapters I later read was on exactly that. It started off with a little story:

'I'm fond of the story about the young girl who took a while returning form the candy store. Her worried mother met her at the door and inquired, "Sweetheart, what took you so long?"
   The girl replied, "I saw a little girl crying because her doll baby was broken."
   The mother said, " That was nice of you to stop to help her fix it."
   "No, mommy," said the girl. " I stopped to cry with her".'

After reading this, I sat and wept. It was just beautiful, and I could totally understand. Several months ago Tom and I were watching Spooks, in the episode we were watching one of the main characters, Danny, died. The episode, and the one before, had been on torture. After this episode I sat and wept for about 2 hours! I was heartbroken at the torture. Just to explain, it wasn't solely because of Spooks, I was also doing a module on terrorism at the time and we had been looking at torture. I was gutted at the fact people torture and are tortured all around the world. This is a personality trait that I have and it is why I am doing my course, I cannot sit back and just let this pass by. Today I've been looking at human trafficking and the statistics are terrible! We cannot let things like this go on around us, especially as Christians!

Anyway, aside from the terrible state this world is in, I found Sunday really encouraging. God really spoke to me about the way He sees me. Galatians 3 vs 16 says 'Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "and to offsprings", referring to many, but referring to one, "and to your offspring", who is Christ'. Galatians 3 vs 29 says 'And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise'. These two verses are saying that when God looks at me (and you if you are in Christ) he sees Christ! He does not see me and my sin, but He sees Christ and His righteousness. Another real encouragement was found in Galatians 4 vs 6, it says 'And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"'. This means that when I am feeling distant and cold, the Spirit of Christ is still in me crying "Abba! Father!" ("Daddy, Father" - really intimate!). This is so encouraging, as I know that, even if I feel distant, God is called, by the Spirit, to look at me, and when He does He is filled with such love and joy because He sees His Son!

I just need to keep reminding myself of this fact, it is so easy to forget when living day-to-day.

Enchantè

2011-03-04T14:27:00.001-08:00

Well today we awoke at 10, got ready for the day, had chocolate brioche for breakfast, then went to get a boat!

After walking around a very varied fish market we booked ourselves a boat trip to the island of Frioul and waited for it by enjoying a crèpe in a near-by French cafè. The boat trip out was fun, it was nice to see Marseille from the sea! Laura felt a bit sea sick, but apart from that all was well :)

On arriving on the island we realised it was not what we expected, but that wasn't an issue. We explored the island. It was full of old forts and was silent! It was very strange but interesting all the same. We sat and had lunch with our legs hanging off a cliffy bit in a cove. Some scuba divers came along in their boat, I decided they were pirates and narrated all their movements. As we were leaving we realised they were actually fishing for octopus/squid and were attaching them to a sort of belt around their waists. It was fascinating to watch. We then continued to explore the rocky island and chat about fears and God's strength and deep things like that. The views from the island were very pretty, and the sea was so clear! It really was beautiful!

Afterwards we went to a cafe and had sorbet and a drink while waiting for the boat back to Marseille.

The boat trip back was a little more 'interesting'. We learned that the island was attacked by the Dutch, the English, the Spanish and the Americans. We also, however, learnt a group of French men's capacity of English. It was at that moment that we wish we had guys on holiday with us. So when we arrived back to Marseille we rushed off the boat, ensuring they weren't following us, and went to the tourist information to find out what time restaurants typically open for dinner.

After exploring Marseille for a little longer we went back to our hotel to relax and get ready for the evening, we had intended to do some work but time just flew by!!

So, showered and dressed, we went back out for our evening meal. We walked around for a while looking at French menus, attempting to understand them, then chose a restaurant that was red with a pink sign (Laura strongly dislikes the combination of red and pink). The waiter was very nice and translated for us, though we felt increasingly bad, and the food was delicious! I attempted some French, and did well if I say so myself, while Laura, who is much better at French than me, shied away and spoke English! For pudding Laura had a lemon sorbet with vodka and we could tell that this was the case by the time we left.

On our way back we found a 'site'; palais du justice. It was very pretty and had some beautiful fountains but as I contemplated dipping my fingers in the water I saw a very large rat run past. It was time to move on.

On being back we have got into our pajamas, played some games and edited the videos from today and, now, written this blog.

It is time for some reading then bed.

Today has been really good fun and we're both tired from it. It is weird to think that we're going back to England tomorrow, it feels like we've only just got here. I think we're definitely going to go away together again!

So, bonnuit! Au revoir!

Ou èst la plage

2011-03-03T11:43:00.000-08:00

Rise and shine!

This morning we awoke nice and fresh; me at 7.30 (6.30 British time! :o ) and Laura at 10 - a much more sensible time! After getting ready for the day we went to a local grocery store, we picked sandwich stuff, crisps and some drinks then went to the till to be served by what we think was a Spanish man - he said sì! We also bought some bubble gum that had a tattoo sticker in - Laura has a pink person on her hand, and on my foot I have '@-', why, I have no idea!!! We came back to the hotel made sandwiches, ate lunch and faffed about with maps.

Then to explore...

We went back into the center and then went towards the harbour. We walked along the harbour and found some forts. We had to walk along and cross a very big fast road - I was a bit scared, but Laura was fine, she is obviously much braver than me. The view off one of the forts was pretty cool, we could see over most of Marseille and had a nice view of the harbour.

Ou èst la plage?

Then to find the beach! We walked along a long road and after a while we found the beach! We paddled in the sea and wrote names in the sand, then back off to explore.

With sand in our shoes we started back towards the center. On our way back we stopped into a cafe for a drink. Laura asked for a coke in brilliant French, and I spoke in Spanish - fail! After realising we were tourists we attempted at a quick conversation then sat to enjoy our drinks. After enjoying our drinks, having a rest and going to the toilet, we continued on our way.

The journey to the town was filled with photo-taking and laughs, some photos will be up here after the holiday. Once we were in town we went window shopping and enjoyed a crèpe in a nice French cafe. We seemed to catch the eye of the waiter so after our crèpe we were off to continue window shopping. We were disappointed to find so many British shops, but ecstatic to find sweet shops and a French food shop!! If we could, we would bring so much back!!

Believe it or not, it was now dinner time... so..."when in Rome"... we wanted a baguette...

We went for a little wonder and after a little while, found a nice looking baguette shop. We went in and were spoken to with very quick French. After, shamefully, saying 'inglès', the guy proceeded to speak in fluent English! We then wanted to buy the whole shop, he was so nice! We bought a baguette each and a cake each, said 'au revoir', and headed back to our hotel.

Since being back we have eaten, played plenty of card games, enjoyed receiving Facebook messages from our respective gentlemen, and are now going to do some studying before going to bed! Essays don't write themselves!

I've had a really good day, with even more memories to share. It's been really good fun finding out more about each other and relaxing together. I've realised I'm much better at Spanish than I realised, but no good at French. I think I'm either going to have to learn them both really well or be happy with just speaking Spanish. Going to have to think about that!

Anyway, I'm going to stop procrastinating and get some work done.

3 countries in 24hours

2011-03-02T12:39:00.001-08:00

So, here we are, sat in our hotel in the south of France....

The journey so far....

So straight after my 5-6 o'clock lecture I ran out to Laura's car, she had driven up to campus straight after her lecture. We were rather hungry so stopped off at McDonald's for some chicken nuggets, chips, and the toilet!

The journey to Laura's was made in record time with plenty of fun conversations. We contemplated how much Aber has changed us, quote of the night 'yeah, if you think about me' - oh dear!! I got to experience Laura's comedy comments when driving - she talks to herself and goes very weird ;P all the better to laugh with. :)

We arrived at Laura's just before midnight, Laura high on Red Bull, me struggling to stay awake. After re-packing and having a sad realisation that I could've brought my suitcase, we went to bed.

Nice and early this morning (6.50) my alarm went off to get me out of bed... a shower and an orange juice later we were off!!

The journey to the airport was fun. I found out that Laura's dad did international relations so we chatted about Africa, colonialism and the difference between a nation-state and a state-nation. Fun I know :) Laura was thrilled by this conversation!

At the airport we weighed our bags, sized our bags, and avoided talking about safety pins, bombs and machine guns when going through security, and then... waited...

After finding a 'the windmill' weatherspoons, we went a little bit crazy in a toy shop: Laura danced on a floor keyboard, I couldn't find hand puppets (they were right behind me), and we played catch. We then contemplated buying a real aston martin for £20 but realised we wouldn't be able to afford the insurance. Now for the search for shampoo...

'Laughter is the best cosmetic, so grin and wear it'

We found the Boots and found the travel sized shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, face wash and deodorant. After getting some snacks we went to the till, only to find out we could have a freebie item with our 'skin care' products, so we got a moisturising cream. Not only was this cream free, it also managed to knock 30p off our total! We discussed buying more to get our total to nought but figured this might not actually work...

Then for preparing to run to a gate when it was shown on the screens... after packing our products in our bags and getting our passports and boarding passes ready, we sat for a while. As soon as the gate came up we ran, I was impressed at how organized we were! We enjoyed going along the flat escalator things and arrived at the queue to be the second party there! WIN! The French don't seem to like to queue - one man kept trying to cut the queue.

We managed to get the seats by the emergency exits so we had lots of leg room, which was useful as neither of us really needed it as we both like to cross our legs.

The flight had quite a bit of drama. As we repeated French phrases, words and numbers off my 'teach yourself French' ipod mp3, babies around us were causing some issues. We had two very cute little boys sat behind us who we had been pulling faces at and there was a little girl across the aisle just behind them.

Drama number one: 'excuse me, can you help me, my baby has been scolded'. The youngest of the boys behind us had spilt tea/coffee on himself. After yelling down the plane, the lady continued to yell at the Ryanair people, attempting to blame them for the hot beverage. She tried to get Laura to act as a witness, Laura refused.

Drama number two: 'the baby has been crying for so long and the mother is doing nothing for it'. The little girl behind us was crying, we were coming to land and I can only assume that the child, who had behaved perfectly throughout the flight, was experiencing ear pain. I was too so I totally empathised. The passenger in front of her started yelling at the mum. This resulted in passenger, girl's mum and boys' mum participating in a yelling match. A Ryanair stewardess came over to see what was happening, kindly another passenger translated (quote above). She tried to calm the situation.

After landing we went through passport control and went to find a bus. After finding out how extortionate taxi prices are, we got on the coach. Twenty minutes later we arrived at Garè St.Charles, then for finding the hotel! We located where we were and where the hotel was. We were to walk down a really long road turn right and walk down another long road. We did and found the hotel without getting lost or asking for directions! :) WIN!

We checked in and freshened up and headed back out to find some food! We hadn't had anything proper to eat all day! Our 'lunch' consisted of a packet of crisps and a small bag of popcorn each (I had also had some grapes). We walked into the centre away from the side streets and suburbs that we are in. After finding the sea, we realised we REALLY needed food. We walked along the harbour looking for a cheapish restaurant but every time we tried to eat somewhere we were told they were closed - even though people were in there drinking. After walking around for some time we realised that we must have been too early for food! It was about 5.30. Too hungry to wait we went back round the harbour, enjoy the sights and looking into tourist stuff as we went, and decided to go to Haagen Dans for some desert and to pass the time away. After seemingly taking forever to decide what to have we ordered and enjoyed some delicious ice cream!! As we were too embarrassed to go back to the restaurants and rather fuller up (I know that's not grammaticaly correct) we decided what we really wanted was a slab of pizza and to come back to hotel to chill out. So to find pizza... we wandered the streets of Marseille and couldn't find pizza anywhere... until... we wandered down a, slightly rough, side street... PIZZA GALORE! Exactly what we were looking for! We ordered our pizza and continued to wander, until we got a little uncomfortable :S so we headed towards the center again and walked back to the hotel.

We have gotten into our pajamas and after me spending just under an hour writing this and Laura editing the video from today, Laura has just this minute drifted to sleep and I am going to do some reading then do the same.

Today has been so much fun and we have so many special memories simply from today!

So... 24 hours, 3 countries...

Let's see what tomorrow will bring...

Watch this space

2011-03-01T06:24:00.001-08:00

Well, all packed and ready, one lecture to go then we're off.

We'll be staying at Laura's tonight so we've got a long drive. A long time to not get travel sick! I think I'll just sleep.

Tomorrow morning we'll be off to the airport and we'll be in the air by lunch.

I'll try and keep you updated with what we're doing through this blog... so... WATCH THIS SPACE

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A Cold Heart and The Love of God

2011-02-26T05:27:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was the St.Mikes' Student Girls Weekend. We went to a lovely place near Fishguard in Pembrokeshire.The speaker for the weekend was a lady called Heledd Job, she spoke about 'Image', though that wasn't what I took away from the weekend.

For a while I've been feeling 'cold'. I've found it hard to love God and to really love and understand the Gospel (outrageous I know). I knew that the way to love God more was to understand the Gospel and what Jesus has done for us, but every time I heard the Gospel, although there may be a slight 'wow', it just went through/over me. It didn't sink in, it wasn't making my heart soft or warm, and I wasn't loving God more.

This really frustrated me. I want to love my God, the one who saved me, created me and the world, and loves me immensely.

I went to Girls Weekend in the 'cook's' car to free up space elsewhere, this meant I arrived 3 hours earlier than everyone else. After pealing some potatoes the cook's went for a walk and I stayed in alone. I started reading a book I've got called 'Faith like a Child: Discover the Simple Joy of Loving God'.

Matthew 18:4-5:

"Whoever humbles himself like this child

is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me."

This book is really encouraging. Although it is probably better suited for parents, as the author looks a lot at the relationship between parent and child and the way that mirrors the relationship between us and God, I still manage to understand what the author is saying from the point of view of the child.

In the time of reading while the cook's were on their walk I learnt about the need 'to be a child again'. Children have an amazing skill to 'trust, love, and live without considering first what's in it for them' and they are so joyful! They are humble but joyful. They keep life simple and enjoy it. As we grow older we seem to forget how to laugh and play so innocently and joyfully.

However, as the author distinguishes, there is a difference between being childish in spirit and childlike in spirit: 'A childish spirit is immature, while a childlike spirit promotes trust and strength. A childish spirit makes a game out of life, while a childlike spirit remembers to find joy on the path.'

After reading about the importance to laugh and play and enjoy life, I continued to read on... I read about how life is full of rejections, as we are all too aware, but God will never reject us! The Bible talks a lot about feet, especially the idea of dust on our feet from where we have been. As we go through life and do things wrong we get dirty, our feet get dirty, but what we need to remember is that Jesus came to wash us clean so that we will never be rejected. Jesus came to say 'No matter what you have done or not done, only one question needs to be answered: Are you willing to surrender your feet to be washed?'.

This thought was challenging; am I 'willing to surrender my feet to be washed?'. One thing that always holds us back from God is our sin, sometimes we hold things back from God, maybe recent sin or old festering sin. Ashamed of our sin we hide it, then we question why God feels so distant: I know I do. What I needed to do was allow Jesus to wash my feet.

Although I am washed, it doesn't necessarily mean I feel close to God straight away. It doesn't work like that. So I need to learn to go to God anyway. The next chapter in the book is titled 'Sitting on God's Lap'. The author looks at a child's need to sit on their parent's lap when they need comforting or need to feel safe. We need, and I need, to do this with God. I should rest 'in the lap of [my] Heavenly Father'.

Hebrews 4:15-16:

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,

but we have one who has been tempted in every way,

just as we are - yet is without sin.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,

so that we may receive mercy and

find grace to help us in our time of need."

I can approach with confidence the throne of grace so that I may receive mercy and find grace to help me in my time of need.

When raising the question of a cold heart in 'question time' at the weekend I was encouraged to find that most people experience a time in which they have a cold heart/desert time/distance between them and God. I was encouraged to hear that it is a time in which God is wanting me to seek after Him more, a time in which I am growing.

Life isn't full of emotional highs, we experience lows and steady times. What we need to remember in these times is to sit on our Heavenly Father's lap, continue to search after Him, and to trust Him with a childlike heart.

Secret Cinema

2011-02-17T05:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend (12th-13th Feb) I went to London with two wonderful people, Laura and Malcolm, to go to an event called 'Secret Cinema'. "What is Secret Cinema?" I here you ask. Well, I shall tell you in due course.

I shall admit that I slept most of the to way to London; after being the driver for so long it seems that now I get car sick if I'm not driving which is a tad annoying as it means I can't join in the conversations or read but can simply sleep and listen to my iPod.
All the way to London I had a craving for Marks and Spencer's crispy bacon; they have it at service stations and I really really wanted some. Sadly, the best we could find was a Waitrose, so humus and carrots it was! They say I'm high maintence! pah! haha, Laura did mock me for it.
When we arrived in London I had such a strange feeling of being home. I think it was the smell - pollution. It was a smell I was very familiar with growing up in the Philippines, and although it sounds disgusting, it smelt like home. I was instantly comfortable in the busyness.

So, what is Secret Cinema? Well, the idea is that you have no idea what film you are going to see or where exactly. You are given 'clues' during the weeks before like what to wear and where to meet.

"Secret Cinema attempts to blur the boundaries between theatre and cinema with the audience becoming part of the narrative and interacting with actors on a set just like in the film.

The film is interluded with performance and film fans can even eat and drink that which is in the movie.

Fabien Riggall, founder and creative director, said: “We aspire to bring the colour, the passion and the vibrancy of the films we screen to life and we would like our audience to be part of that creative process. Secret Cinema aims to further the participation of its audience whilst continuing to push the boundaries of how films are seen and experienced.”"quote

Getting ready for Secret Cinema was a lot of fun. We were told to dress up late-1940s, so we looked slightly odd, but I quite liked it! It's strange to see how much fashion changes as the style of fashion was actually quite similar to as it is now. Setting off to Wapping Station (the location we were told to meet at) we looked very very odd, at least I thought we did. Though that changed as soon as we arrived at Wapping Station. There were loads of people dressed similarly strangely as to how we were. While we were waiting there was a policeman dressed as a 1940s policeman and we were handed with newspapers written in the style of 'Unknown Culture Movement'. Suddenly a group of people (actors) were coming towards us chanting 'art for all and all for art', telling us to follow them, "why wait when you can create".

When we got into the location (Tobacco Dock) we were welcomed into a 1940s experience with actors everywhere to make it 'real'. There was a restaurant, several bars, market stalls with flowers and food, ballet dancers, jazz dancers, and several scenes from the film. There was also several ballet pieces acted out for us throughout the evening.

The film was The Red Shoes, a 1948 film. It was fun finding bits and pieces of the evening in the film; for example a piece of set was being carried in the queue, at the time we had no idea what it was. It was a good film, and was thankfully not scary (there had been several comments implying it would be a scary film).

First Post

2011-02-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

After starting my blog Naomi Ruth's Thinking Space, which is there for my thoughts on big issues or topics, I decided (after several conversations with others) to start a blog to just talk about me, my day, my week etc.

So here it is.