Pintrest

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 :) 

Freshers Flood

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! :)

My wonderful family :)

I have a wonderful family! :)

Enchantè

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

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.