Dreaming of the city?!

Now, I know that normally at this time of week you’re probably waiting for me to post some nice photos of open countryside from our day off but I’m afraid this week you’ll have to be disappointed.

In a break from tradition, this week we visited the CITY!

Horrific, I know.

Actually it wasn’t that horrific. We went to visit some of good friends down in Cardiff and it was a really lovely time catching up with them.

I can’t really remember how much I’ve mentioned our move in the summer. I think I probably got over enthusiastic about the fact I’M GOING TO BE A VICARS WIFE and forgot to tell you about any of the details.

Well, here is one big fat annoying detail:
We’re going to have to live in the city for three years.

How will I surrrrrrviiivvvvvvve?!?!

Josh will be attending a college in Cardiff in South Wales. On our visit yesterday our friends were able to show us round the area in which we’ll be living.

Histrionics aside, it actually seems like a nice city to life in. We’ll be in the ‘posh’ part and it actually had a pretty nice village feel.

 

(source)

If you can ignore the main roads that is.

Basically it’s all just a means to an end and I know I have to just suck it up and get on with it. Three years isn’t a long time in the grand scheme of things (not sure I really believe that!) and then hopefully we’ll be able to move somewhere more rural. I’m just not sure whether it will send me slightly insane. I’ve only ever lived in towns where you can walk and be in open countryside within 15 minutes maximum. I’ve lived by the sea for 12 years and I HATE DRIVING.

(source)
Okay – before I start hyperventilating lets look at some of the positives:

1) It’s nearer my family and I’ll be able to hang out with them much more often
2) We’ll be able to go bowling, the theatre, go to a cinema with more than one screen and do lots more ‘cultural’ stuff.
3) We’ll hopefully be living in a house or a flat with more than one bedroom which means we can have visitors! (very exciting!)
4) There will be public transport that doesn’t take at least 3 hours to even get out of Wales.
5) ummmm
6) Can anyone help me out here?

I’ve been reading through Numbers over the last month. One thing that struck me was the Israelites’ grumbling in the desert. Even though God provided for them nothing was good enough and they grumbled continually and as a result God was not happy with them.
I need to remind myself that we’re the same. The whole reason we’re moving to the city is because God has provided for us and he has enabled us to go to this college and then hopefully we’ll be able to do rural ministry for the rest of our lives. I need to make sure I’m not grumbling about God’s provision for us.

That aside…I won’t be changing the name of the blog anytime soon.

Weekend Shenanigans

Hello friends. Sorry that I’ve been MIA for the last few days but one of our university friends has been visiting in Aberystwyth and so we’ve had a weekend of socialising, impromptu cooking fests and late night gaming sessions.
I did NightLight on Saturday too so I’m exhausted!

I’ve recently discovered an amazing new game. Jungle Speed – have you played it? I am obsessed!

It’s basically a complex game of snap. You are dealt a hand of cards with different shapes and colours, each player lays a card in turn around the circle and if your card matches with someone else’s you have to grab the wooden totem pole in the middle of the table. The person who doesn’t grab the totem in time picks up the cards from both people. The person to get rid of all their cards first wins.

However, if two people grab the totem at the same time you have to fight over it which always brings much rolling around on the floor hilarity, scratching, biting, and kicking all depending on  how competitive you’re feeling!  I have bruises on my hand, arm and legs from last night’s shenanigans!

The great thing about it is that each round is over quickly which makes it super addictive as you convince yourself you can win next time; which is why I didn’t get to bed until very late last night!

Have you got any good gaming suggestions?

HE GOT THROUGH!

(if you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about read this post first)

Oh  me, oh my – I’m going to be a vicar’s wife people. I’M GOING TO BE A VICAR’S WIFE!!!!!!!

I’m feeling slightly brain dead from the fact that we’ve actually found out and the news hasn’t really sunk in yet but…

• We are so grateful that God has given us this opportunity and that we get to work for him full time. I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified about the challenges we will face in the future, but just praise God that he has once again given us the ‘desires of our hearts’.
• I am SOOOO proud of Josh. He has worked so hard for this. We had a report back from the board and they were so positive about him. I’ve married an amazing man.
• I don’t think I will ever be able to THANK YOU enough to all of those who have been praying and supporting us through cards, emails and phone calls. You’re all amazing and we have definitely felt the benefit of the prayers!

So all I have to say in conclusion is Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop!

Joyful Sunday

Joy is…

1. Spending time with our St Mike’s Church Family worshipping God.

2. Having a surprise birthday lunch for a special friend, eating a roast meal and then fatting out for the rest of Sunday afternoon.

3. Wonderful friends who surprise you with gifts and care packages, just to let you know they care about you.

4. Deciding not to buy things, but then receiving them anyway for free.

5. Feeling sleepy and snuggling down in a warm, soft bed  after doing NightLight. Blissssss.

Nighty-night friends.

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Posted in conjunction with Camille’s Saturday Steals

The one where she rants about Swap Parties

What is a swap party?

The basic premise of a swap party – unsurprisingly – is to swap your things. Everyone brings along things they no longer want, you chuck it all in a pile and grab anything that takes your fancy. I’ve been to formal parties where you’re only allowed to swap clothes or jewellery, but most of our parties are just with friends where we swap anything from clothes to toiletries to cleaning products to books and DVDs.

Why I love swap parties so much

1. They help me to de-clutter.
   They say that you should clear out your house like you’re planning to move twice a year. Swap parties help to give me the motivation to look through every room in my house [and especially my wardrobe] to see what I don’t really use anymore. Anything that is not swapped is taken to a charity shop, so it doesn’t really matter if you’re trying to swap really old stuff. It’s still a good motivation to get rid of it if you no longer use it.
2. They help me stick to my new year’s resolution.
   I’ve got a lot of clothes, and really I don’t need to buy any from year to year. But you know what it’s like…occasionally you just want to jazz up your wardrobe so you feel like you’re not just wearing the same old things day after day.
   Swap parties are an EXCELLENT opportunity to do just that…and all for FREE. Also, if you decide you don’t like the item you claimed you can just swap it again next party!
3. You get to own clothes you wouldn’t normally buy.
   I have a few arty friends who always have beautiful clothes and I always cheer inside when we have swap parties together. I have got several items of clothing that I wouldn’t have thought to buy but that I now LOVE. It’s easier to experiment with new styles when the clothes are free!
4. They are FUN, FUN, FUN!
   A group of girls with wine, nibbles, and lots and lots of clothes? Need I say more?!

—-

Have you ever been to a swap party? What was the best thing you claimed?

Holiday Highlights

For the last three weeks, I have spent a week in Devon, spent a week in Abersoch and have spent a week getting back into normal real life, which seems to have gone CRAZY all of a sudden.

I’m sorry for the lack of blogging, but we have a lot of staff changes going on at work which means I’m super busy and Josh and I have been making the most of this beautiful Spring weather in the evenings. (I have lots of Spring related photos to post soon.)

In the mean-time, I will give you a quick update of my past three weeks in my holiday highlights;

1. I got to spend lots of time with my family, and caught up with a few old friends. We ate A LOT of good food.

 

2. The weather was AMAZING in Abersoch. We played on the beach, got a tan, and I wore my flip-flops for the first time this year.

3. Even though team games scare me a bit – I ended up being the last person on my team to still be ‘in’ while playing rounders, and then I managed to get a rounder! I was happy not to disgrace myself.

I also remembered that I LOVE murder in the dark! Mwahaha.

 

4. I learnt how to play poker. Always a valuable life skill.

 

5. Um…I feel like there should be a five.

I love my husband. The End.

(some of these photos were taken by Naomi)

Growing up

When was the first time you truly felt like an adult?

A couple of weeks ago I was in a Mediterranean restaurant with about twenty of our friends for a birthday celebration. During the evening I gazed around as people relaxed round two huge circular dining tables, pouring wine, mixing up dressing from the bottles of Spanish vinegar and oil and laughingly passing round olives and crusty bread.

It suddenly struck me that I am an ADULT. No one organised for me to be there. I wasn’t just tagging along with my parents. I was there because I was part of a group of intelligent, engaging people who liked me for who I am.

Now, this might seem a little random and I’m certainly not saying I feel immature or out of my depth. It was just one of those light bulb moments where you feel how did this happen? When did I make the transformation from gawky teenager, to shy student to happy-as-I-am adult. Weird.

I guess all of this has been going round in my head because we are making some big decisions at the moment. In the next couple of weeks we will be taking another step towards our future, and will be finding out whether the door we’re pushing is going to be opened wider or slammed in our faces.

We’ve also recently found that a couple of our close friends are having a baby. They are the first in our close friendship group and it just makes you realise that we are getting to the age where loads of our friends seem to getting married and having babies.

 I wonder if people look at Josh and I and think we have it all together? I’ve already made the link between ‘growing up’ and ‘getting married’ – and we’ve been married for over two years. While, I’m not saying I feel immature (in fact Josh and I have had to deal with lots of situations that you could say are beyond our years), I’m not saying I feel like I have it all together either…

 I’ve got a feeling that becoming an adult is one of those mythical statuses that you aim to achieve as a child. Like turning 16 or 18…when you actually get there it doesn’t feel any different.

 So…a question for you. When was the first time that you felt like a real adult?

How to go for a walk…

…Will, Anna, Becky, Hannah, Josh and Rachel style!

 1. Peruse a map of your local area and notice that one of the nearby hills is called Welshie Law. Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter that the surrounding land could be a midge infested bog, this is an adventure! And it’s called Welshie, you have to climb it!

2. Arrive at the tiny village of Yarrow to begin your walk, only to find that there is a huge funeral being held there and that every sensible parking space is taken.

3. Drive out of village. Do perilous three point turn in farm gate. Lose hub cap.

4. Park inappropriately at the side of the road and awkwardly walk out of the village avoiding eye contact with the steady stream of mourners walking the other way.

 

5. Find hub cap at the side of the road. Decide it would be too embarrassing to run back to the car past the mourners so carry it on the walk instead.

6. Find path.

 

7. Act out the Christmas story to keep yourself amused (only advisable if you’re walking with children’s workers)

 

8. Remember half way up the hill that you’re ridiculously unfit. Feel like legs will fall off. Dump all bags on the ‘fit one’ (read: Josh)

 9. Remember that the big bottle of insect spray you bought especially for the trip is still back at the cottage. Proceed to be attacked by flies.

10. Admire the amazing view from the top of the hill. Feel like it was well worth the toil after all. Eat lunch, take photos, play Frisbee.

 

11. Walk down other side of hill and realise you have lost the path. Consult map. Trespass on farm property and worry you are about to be shot by farmers.

 

12. Finally make it back to the inappropriately parked cars and head home, happy.

 13. Eat cake