Sunrise - always worth getting up for!

Sometimes it's the simple little things...

I LOVE...

• Absolutely anything Peacock Blue - it makes me VERY happy! (Photo by my friend Naomi Bennett)
• Singing along to music in the car - especially with other people harmonising. Actually Harmonies and Singing in general - anytime anywhere!
• Sunsets and Sunrises. Sunrises are more effort to see and therefore more beautiful - trust me they're worth it :)

• Lush vocal arrangements (The only reason I like GLEE - I promise :P)
• The seaside in summer
• The seaside in winter
• The seaside at dawn
• The seaside at sunset
• Stargazing in the country - no light pollution = brilliant!!
• Weddings, especially the speeches and watching the Groom during the entrance of the bride - loveliness!
• Waking up and realising I have more time to sleep (I set 2 alarms half an hour apart every morning for this reason - mad I know!)
• 'It's a small world' moments.
• Hearing peoples stories/testimonies
• Photography - I'm not great at it but I do LOVE photos in general!
• A great melody that stays in your head for days
• Hearing someone humming something that you know they sub-conciously picked up from you days earlier :)
• Cheesy disaster movies - I will explain why sometime!
• Milk to drink, avacados to eat! (Not necessarily at the same time!)
• Converse trainers! Oh so many beautiful colours! I own 4 pairs - oops :P

(Photo from... http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/248/6/f/Converse_Art_by_Aufrah.jpg)

• Having time to blog! (even though right now I should be sleeping! lol)
• Walking around barefoot - especially on grass or sand!
• God's timing, God's sense of humour :)
• Driving under rainbows.
• The smell just before/after it's rained.
• Thunderstorms in the summer - gotta love a good bit of thunder and lighting!!
• The Psalms and their author David. A whole biblical book full of songs and wonderful lyrics that quite often put the prayers I need to pray into words for me :)
• Lying in bed when it's pouring with rain outside!
• Eating ice (Weird I know lol) - the crushed stuff is the best (best thing about Nandos is that you get free re-fills with crushed ice on tap hehehe!)
• Writing lists - only recently discovered this one in my boredom at work. Lots more list blog posts coming up I feel :)
• Film music. Linked to my favourite video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4
• Quoting funny lines from films with my sisters - especially Shrek, Ice Age, Finding Nemo etc
• Disney - I won't deny it any longer, this is my childhood, Hercules is the best!
• Solo Piano music to work to. Anything by Ludovico Einaudi or on Whisperings Solo Piano Radio.
• Making Mix CDs for people I love :)
• How holding his hand is enough to make my day!
• His smile, his honesty, his integrity, his faith, his passion, his hugs, his bad jokes - Him in general :)
• Romans 8 v 31-39, Isaiah 43 v 1-4

That's all I can bring to mind right now, pretty sure this could flow into a second blog post sometime down the line. I love being thankful for all this stuff and realising how much of it there is :)

Travelling Plans and Lessons Learned.

29th July, in 3 weeks time, is the date that I was originally going to be leaving on my epic year of working/travelling. As you may have gathered I am now not doing this... I couldn't really be more relieved to be honest!
It definitely wasn't the right thing for me to be doing. I have never felt more peace about a decision ever than the moment I decided to change all my plans. All I have ever really wanted to do is travel and explore the stunningly beautiful New Zealand, and visit my lovely Ozzie family and hang there for a little while. The real reason I turned this into an epic year or two long working holiday trip is because...

A) I was sort of running away. Finishing my degree, having had a rough couple of years dealing with all sorts of stuff in my life I now realise I got a bit scared! Scared of not having a plan, of not knowing what I was going to do, of being stuck in a job that I had no passion or love for, for life! I turned my desire to see a bit of the world and have a little adventure into something epic that (in my mind) had the potential to change my life by it's sheer length of time and epic-ness!
I still have no idea of a precise plan for life, or no idea of how it's all going to work out but I am unbelievably ok with that. After all I am not in control and I may not have a plan but I know the one who know's it all has has good plans for my life (Thank You God!).
B) I was in a bit of a rush and started to worry about money I figured the only way I was going to be able to afford to do all I wanted to do and not have to wait and save up for years before doing it was to turn it into a working holiday. This was never really what I wanted to do! Turns out with my new plans I am going to have more than enough by saving a 3rd of what I was originally trying to save every month - awesome!

'SO WHAT'S THE NEW PLAN?' I hear you say.

Well.... On the 9th of December I leave England for 2 months, yes only 2 months - full of all the things that I really wanted to do in the first place!

• 3 and a half weeks in Australia - a week in sydney with the lovely cousins Tim and Sophie, a long weekend exploring Melbourne, Christmas with Uncle Dubs and Auntie Rachel, Tim, Sophie and Ned in Wagga Wagga, back to Sydney for New Year (AWESOME!!!), then flying to Auckland on the 2nd january.

• 5 and a half weeks exploring both Islands of New Zealand on a Kiwi Explorer Bus Pass. Sailing, kyaking, sky-diving, mountain walking, sunrise/sunset watching etc etc

• Returning home to England on February the 8th!  Home.... home to Mike, home to Bath, home to Freedom. I am going to have an amazing time, I am very excited but after 2 months I am coming home, home to here where I am meant to be :)

Lessons I have learned...

• Having extreme peace about a decision is pretty much a sign you are probably making the right one.
• Life should not be governed by worrying about money. I will always have enough, my God is my provider :)
• I want to go away to explore and have a long holiday, to see beautiful places and visit beautiful family. But right now I am supposed to be here and I simply can't leave it for as long as I was going to.
• Not having your life planned out or knowing how it's going to work is ok.... actually it's quite freeing to realise this :)
• I love my life!

I definitely do not wish that I hadn't planned that epic trip, I don't wish that I hadn't lost a bit of money in the process of changing my plans, I don't wish that I hadn't gone through this process. I have grown so much in these last few months, I wouldn't change that for the world.

So here's to looking forward to December the 9th but also here's to enjoying every moment of my life before and after this trip. :)

Yummy Scrummy Fonts

'Honey I'm Home!'

I am back, oh yes indeed!
I have internet and a bit of free time and soooooooo much to blog and share with you!

I think a few posts may follow in the next couple of hours.... Unfortunately I can't put them all in one post because the 'super organised perfectionst' bit of me hidden deep down would get annoyed at mixing subjects together in one post lol!

But I am back and really trying to be a blogger - thought you should know :)

Thanks for reading this and sharing life with me - it's fun!

(P.S. I got this rather lovely photo from http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1226/3269867885_d75d5a8893.jpg)