My News Highlights for 2019

Dear everyone,

I started this blog, it was my first blog when I moved to England, UK and my thought on starting it was it will be a good way to update everyone on my news. I don't always get the time to update everyone individually. Sometimes I am not the best at replying texts or messages either especially when I'm busy working or with friends, I forget but I do love hearing how people are. I actually like phone calls or video calls which is weird because when I was younger sometimes I would just let our house phone ring and ring or put the answering machine on because I didn't want to answer it haha! Meeting in person is of course the ultimate best but not always possible as a lot of people I know are scattered around the world. I love meeting up with people and catching up with people. I don't get around to updating this blog as much as I would like, I am averaging a post a year haha but this is some of the news highlights of what I got up to in 2019!

Let's start with the Best news of 2019! My beautiful nephew Logan Gavin Plummer was born on the 14th of February 2019. I love him so much! I met him in November 2019 and he is such a happy smiley boy! My sister and brother in law are amazing parents. More about Logan later in this blog!

My nephew Logan Gavin Plummer - I LOVE HIM!

Next let's move on to my age. Ouch. I turned 30 in 2019 on the 14th of April to be exact - if you want to send me a present for my next one I will give you my address, only joking. The big 3-0 wow! The thing I will say about turning 30 is that in your teens you think you know everything and then in your 20's you think you know everything and know who you are and then when you reach your 30's you realise you didn't know anything when you were younger and you have changed as a person. I wasn't looking forward to turning 30 but now that I have I am really happy because I feel like I am finally at an age where life has taught me so much and I have grown as a person and I know who I am. I am also at an age where I am ready to try new things and do anything I want to do.

My friend surprised me with a birthday meal with some of my other close friends in the area for my 30th. There is actually a video on my Instagram of it because they filmed my reaction and of course a lot of pictures on my Facebook/ Instagram. (I take a lot of pictures of everything). It was really nice of her and my other friends and they all kept it quiet so well, I was very surprised haha. I am so thankful to have such amazing friends who would do that for me. Here is a picture from my 30th:

Posing with balloons my friends got me - I am 30!

Now we move on to Nicola the globetrotter. The thing I like about travel is that you get to see such amazing places and get to see what a beautiful world we live in and meet awesome people. Of course there are things that happen that are not beautiful in the world but the actual beauty of nature and places is amazing and there are some really kind people too. If you are on my social media you might have seen, I have done a fair amount of travelling this year - I have been to 6 countries! (Ok one is technically an island in Greece).

 I have always wanted to try solo travel and stay in hostels and I did it in 2019 - 4 times! I did my first solo travel abroad trip in November 2018 and went to Tenerife but I stayed in a hotel. I did a solo travel local UK trip a few years ago too and went to Torquay, Devon and stayed in a hotel. The thing about solo travel is that it isn't always exactly solo - you meet loads of people who are also travelling solo too or with friends and hang out together when you stay in hostels or do group tours etc. My first trip was to Madrid, Spain in March and the experience of solo travelling and the awesome people I met and the fun I had, made me want to do it more and more!

Here are some pictures in Madrid, Spain - (the bear and tree are the symbol of Madrid):

 


 I booked another solo trip to Corfu, Greece in June (Greek Island) and stayed in a hostel - here are some pictures of me in Corfu, Greece:

               
I booked another solo trip and stayed in a hostel in Faro, Portugal in June, here are some pictures:

 



I booked my 4th hostel solo trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands I also met up with a friend there too, here is a picture:

I would encourage anyone looking to travel to solo travel, it's such a brilliant experience and I met amazing people from all over the world and saw amazing places! I will definitely be doing more trips in 2020! I love travelling and visiting people and also travelling and meeting new people and seeing new places! I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to travel so much and it has been so nice to meet such great people from all over the world!

That does not conclude my travelling for 2019 though, I have covered 4 out of 6 countries I visited. I also visited South Africa and Zimbabwe. In November I flew to Johannesburg, South Africa. I landed at the airport and my family were there waiting for me. I met my nephew Logan for the first time at the airport on the 9th November 2019. I was so excited to meet him and I had been so excited for months before. My brother in law had made Logan a t-shirt that said "Aunty Nicola Flight AF 990" which was my flight number when I arrived and he held him up when I walked through at the airport. It was awesome! I walked straight up to the barrier and grabbed him off my brother in law. Holding my nephew for the first time was the most incredible feeling and he was so relaxed at being held by this stranger who just took him. I have video called him before but he hadn't seen me in person until then.

This is a picture from the airport when I first met him (9th November) and another one that same day:

My nephew is such an easy going happy boy! I loved spending time with him and getting to know him. I put a video of him too on my Facebook. As you can imagine Aunty Nicola has hundreds of other photos and videos of him! I can't get enough of him! I love him sooo much and miss him so much! I love video calling him and getting updates on his life and pictures.

Here are some more pictures of Aunty Nicola (me) and Logan (my nephew):

                       

He is the cutest! Please spend a moment of appreciation for his cuteness.

Ok moving back to my trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe because I could literally talk about my nephew all day but I wont. We had a bit of a family reunion when I was there. My two aunts (dad's sisters) and my cousin came and visited Johannesburg at the same time. Most of my family are scattered between South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia and the UK so it was nice to catch up with them. My dad, stepmom, sister, brother in law, nephew Logan, sister in law and stepbrother are all in Joburg. I also saw my stepsister in Cape Town.

I had some great times with family in South Africa, we all went together (Logan included) up the cable car at Hartbeesport Dam (try say that) and had lunch and looked at the views. We went to a local market, they are very talented and creative at making things in Africa. We visited Walter Sisulu botanical gardens (the picture of Logan and I at the waterfall was taken there).  We had a lot of laughs and chats, my family have a great sense of humour and I learnt more about my family history. I loved the Pantomine, it has special South Africa style and humour and we laughed so much. We went to watch a Pantomime - Jack and the Beanstalk. We caught up with other family and family friends too. I did lots of shopping too haha!  

Here are pictures of my family from my trip in South Africa:

My stepmom Noeline, Dad, Aunt Bev (dad's sister), Aunt Noeleen (dad's sister), cousin Luke and I

My cousin Luke, sister Christina,  nephew Logan and I

My sister Christina, brother in law Ray and nephew Logan -  we wore him out the 1st day I met him

My stepbrother Derek, sister in law Shannon and I

My sister Christina and I (I have had comments on the background haha)

My stepsister Carmin and I in Cape Town

I also visited Cape Town, South Africa and stayed with my friends and their family and saw my stepsister. My friend and I went wine tasting (there are loads of vineyards there) and it was my first time wine tasting, I really enjoy it. We also went up the cable car to the top of Table Mountain (very popular mountain in South Africa) and visited the V&A Waterfront and had lunch there.

My friend Sarah and I at the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa

My friend Sarah and I wine tasting in Cape Town, South Africa 

I also visited my hometown Harare, Zimbabwe to catch up with friends and family there. It's such a beautiful country with such kind people and when I go back I feel like I have never been away. Although my home is in the UK now, a part of my heart will always be in Zimbabwe. It also makes you appreciate the UK because I grew up with power cuts, water cuts, potholed roads, food and fuel shortages and Zimbabwe still faces most of these things today except the shops are full. My childhood was different, Zimbabwe was a booming country back then, then everything collapsed around the year 2000. Despite all the problems it is a lovely country with awesome places to visit and it has built up a lot since I lived there. Our Zimbabwean motto is: Make a plan! It is not actually the motto but we do joke we make a lot of plans there! No electricity - make a plan - generators, candles, inverters, solar power. No water - we make a plan - water tanks in houses, boreholes. And so on.  It taught me that whatever life throws at you, you can make a plan!

Here are some pictures of my trip to Harare, Zimbabwe with family and friends: 

That concludes my travelling abroad for 2019. It has been amazing to catch up with so many people and meet so many new people! I am blessed to have such awesome people in my life all around the world and in the UK! 

I also travelled locally and went to the Ed Sheeran Concert in Ipswich, Suffolk with one of my friends from Zimbabwe who also lives in the UK. We also went to the beach there. It was amazing! I love concerts and it also featured Lewis Capaldi, Stormzy and the Darkness so we got to see them live too! If you notice on my Facebook I post a lot of music and I am always listening to music at home, at gym, in my car, at work sometimes and any other opportunity I have. What I love more than listening to music on devices is live music too. I have a very wide taste in music - a very very wide taste in music. I find music relaxing and peaceful. I'd say my two main things are writing and my love for music - it's just a love for music by the way, don't ask me to sing or play an instrument - that could be scary, that is not one of my talents but I have such an admiration for people who are talented with singing or playing an instrument or both. 

Here is a picture from the Ed Sheeran Concert in Ipswich, Suffolk, UK: 

My friend Tanya and I at the Ed Sheeran Concert in Ipswich, Suffolk

I had an amazing year living with my previous housemate and friend. It was great to live with such a nice person, we had lots of great times and laughs in the house. We rented a house together and we moved in together in November 2018. She left in October 2019 to move up north and I got a new housemate who is also very nice and I live in the same house.

Here are some pics of my previous housemate/  and I, we also recently met up and went to the Birmingham Christmas markets together this December:

                              

 I also caught up with friends recently from Zimbabwe who were visiting the UK this December, I used to babysit them and they are now 18 and 20! It was great to see them. 

Here is a pic of us: 

Costa (18), me and Irene (20)

These are two of my best friends below who I love so much and are always there for me and know all the things that go on in the life of Nicola Hill which can be quite humorous at times! They have been there for me throughout all my ups and downs in 2019! 

My best friend Dan and I

My best friend Rebecca and I

I also joined two local meet up groups this year and met more amazing people and made new friends. They are online groups where you go and meet up with people you have never met for the first time somewhere and they do regular events. It's a lot of fun. I always like trying new things.

Now let's go to the affordability factor. How does Nicola pay for life? I have a job. Woah I know right who would employ me! It's actually a job I love. I work with people with Autism/ learning disabilities/ mental health disorders! I have worked as a support worker  since September 2013 and I have been in my current job since October 2017. I love it because I get to help people every day! Some days are challenging - don't the staff and I know it but the reward of seeing the happiness from our residents makes it all worthwhile. I also have the best team to work with ever. I really cherish some of the friendships I have at work and all the laughs we have. I think the world is wrong in the sense that sport and many other things pay a lot more but caring for human beings doesn't. We do these kind of jobs because we care, you have to care to do this kind of work properly. We also work throughout public holidays etc, it's 24/7 care. I do 14 hour shifts from 8am - 10pm, 3 days a week but if you are me I do a lot overtime and can work over 60 hours a week sometimes over 70 - 80. Although I do balance my weeks and obviously find time to spend time with friends too and do other things I want to do like gym and running, I love exercise! Don't ask me how I manage to fit in things, I have no idea haha but I do. This is why sometimes I take a long time to reply messages because I do a lot. 

In October 2018 I became a British Citizen "British Nicola". Which makes the UK my official home now. I have had some amazing times throughout my years here with the best people! I have also had some really hard times and really low moments over the years too. Although in 2019 I decided no matter what happens I am going to focus on the good and I did and it really changed my year! I am really thankful of all the places in the world I ended up in the UK because it has been filled with a lot of personal growth and been a fun experience!

Writing this blog post has made me realise that I have had so many good moments with special people throughout the year! If you would like to see more about my year, I have lots of photo albums on my social media. 

If I have missed anything out, I may add to this later. I may have, I have spent the whole day writing this, summarising a  year of my life haha!

I am really thankful to God for this journey and I feel we are meant to love others not to judge them. So let's go spread that love in this world, the world always needs more love than anything else. No one is perfect, not everyone will do things you agree with but you can love them anyway. Remember too that it's not happy people who are thankful, it's thankful people who are happy! That's one of my favourite quotes! If you look at the good things in your life you will realise you have a lot of them. Yeah there are bad things that happen too but where is your focus?

I have another blog too this is the link:

With that I shall love and leave you,

Until I write again,

Nicola Hill

PS: I LOVE MY NEPHEW! :-)

My news for 2018

Hi everyone!

When I first came to the Uk in 2010 I started a blog, this blog - A Fresh Start. It was my first blog ever. My idea was to update people with my news. Later on I started another blog called  - Home Sweet Home which is my writing blog and I write things I feel inspired to write. Through both my blogs I get to do one of the things I love to do - write! 

I feel great when I'm writing something, it's the best feeling. Although I don't always find the time or inspiration to write something new. I only write when I feel inspired to, like now. This concludes my blog post. Thank you and goodnight. I didn't say I was the best writer, I just put words on a blog. This is my news for 2018 - I like writing! I must be the most interesting writer you have ever read. You must be longing for my next blog post now. 

Ok we all know I have more to write or maybe we don't all know in that case this will be like Christmas again for you if you like my writing. I decided to write this blog post because I wanted to do a highlight real of my news for 2018. Or if you want, I can do an in depth post about what I ate all year too.

In this life we get busy. I am really giving you new realisations for 2019! Life is busy wow - yes what a shocker! I bet you didn't know that. Anyway moving on, we are always busy doing stuff we don't always get to update people on what we've been up to. Basically I am sharing my news for anyone who wants to read it. You may already know my news or some of it but maybe I will adjust the story to make it more interesting. Just kidding, I wouldn't do that, my life is my life. 

It took me four paragraphs to get to my actual news. Once upon a time there was this girl called Nicola and... I won't really write my news like that. 2018 started and I was still living in my flat in Stafford. I moved into my flat in Stafford in July 2017. I still work in my job as a support worker for people with Autism and learning disabilities which I love. I've worked in care since September 2013 and I have had two different jobs in care. I currently work 14 hour shifts from 8am - 10pm.  

I enjoy living in Staffordshire and I like some of the countryside in the area. I am more of a country than a city girl. I started off 2018 going on quite a few walks around Cannock Chase - which is the local forest in my town. It's really beautiful and there is something about nature that makes you feel free. 

I spent a lot of time with friends in the area and talking to other friends and family in the Uk around the world and making some new friends. That's the best part of all my years - the time I spend connecting with people. I really appreciate the people in my life and all the new people that come into my life too. I am thankful for all of you whether I know you a lot or a little there is always an opportunity to get to know each other more and I wish all people I know the best in their lives. It's nice to see and hear about all the happy times that happen in peoples lives. If I missed wishing you a happy birthday or congratulations for something - happy birthday and congratulations! I try to keep up to date but I am not always the best at it. I am not online as much.  

In life we are going to have struggles. I didn't have the most have the most fantastic start to 2018, in fact I spent the first month or two of the year feeling a bit down until I pulled myself out of it. I stopped measuring my life by other things that hadn't happened or hadn't gone how I hoped and just simply focused on spending time with people and that had a great impact on my year for the better. We are too busy planning the next goal or expecting things to go how we plan that we forget all we already have and we have a lot if you think about it. I may not have always got everything I wanted but I have so much in my life already and I am just very thankful for the people in my life and those that come into my life. 

I am Orthodox and I have an Orthodox Church I go to about 30 minutes from me and I spent Orthodox Easter there (which can sometimes be a different date to the other Easter). I went to the midnight service on Easter. They have communion and you walk outside the church and everyone is holding candles and you sing this:

Christos Anesti in Greek

Χριστός ανέστη εκ νεκρών, θανάτω θάνατον πατήσας, και τοις εν τοις μνήμασι ζωήν χαρισάμενος.

The Transliteration

Christos Anesti ek nekron, thanato thanaton patisas, kai tis en tis mnimasi zoin harisamenos.

Christos Anesti in English

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs, granting life.

I copied what is written above to show you for those who don't know. I sang the Greek version in the Greek Orthodox Church when I lived in Zimbabwe, it was the church I grew up in and was baptised in. In the Orthodox church I go to in England, the service is in English so they sing the English version but they also sang it in other languages too after midnight.  

At Easter time as Orthodox we also say to each other "Christ is Risen (Christos Anesti - in Greek)" and the response is "He has risen indeed (Alithos Anesti - in Greek)." 

My Godfather visited me from Australia in June/ July and we spent time with family in the Uk and visited London together. 

In July I climbed Ben Nevis with friends - the Uk's highest peak. It took us about 7 hours to go climb up and down in total. 

My sister phoned me and told me that I am going to be an aunt in 2019 - my nephew will be born this year! I am very excited!

I got my British Citizenship on the 25th of October 2018 which was such a great moment. YAY! "British Nicola". One of the exams I had to do to get citizenship was to make a good cup of tea and I nearly failed because I almost put the milk in first but then I remembered water goes first and I passed. I didn't really have to do that by the way. I may have just opened a debate too on how to make a true cup up of tea ;)! 

I went on my first solo trip abroad to Tenerife in mid November. I planned to go somewhere when I got my citizenship to celebrate and I booked a trip last minute. I literally booked it about 3 days before I flew. I have never booked a holiday so fast but was so glad I did, I had a great time and met some interesting people and had interesting experiences. I rode a camel for my first time there and saw a volcano. It also gave me time to relax before moving house. 

At the end of November I moved out of my flat into a house that I'm renting with a friend and I am loving it here. 

I had a great December. I worked part of Christmas day but it was great and I had a nice quieter New Year which I really enjoyed.

I had a brilliant year and I had great times with special people.

There is so much more I could write about my year because there are so many special moments and so much I do in a year that I could write forever but I will update more news later on.

I hope you all had a great 2018 and even if you didn't, if you read my writing blog https://nicolathewriter.blogspot.com and read my posts on "Waiting" and "Reaping" your time of reaping will come! Remember though, things don't work unless you do!

As with every year and every day of my life I am really thankful to God for the life I have. He has helped me so much in my life and my life wouldn't be the same without Him. All the good things that happened in my life have all been possible because of Him and just simply spending time with God is amazing. He loves us so much. 

If you ever need someone to talk if you are going through things or if want to hang out or catch up or need anything, let me know. I am happy to talk to anyone. 

With that I shall love and leave you, until I write again,
Happy New Year 2019!
May you have many special moments with the people in your life!
Nicola Hill

New News

Wow it's been a long time since I wrote on this blog. If this blog were a book it would be full of dust. My last post on this blog was on the 7th of April 2013. I remember starting this blog when I first moved to the Uk as a way of updating people on my life here. That was back in 2010. On the 31st of January 2017 it will be 7 years since I first landed in the Uk. 7 years of my life spent here. What an incredible time it has been!

I came with everything I owned here, just one suitcase full of clothes and a carry on bag. I began my journey as an aupair then I became a housekeeper/waitress and now I'm a support worker. This journey has seen me living in many different towns, including by London and by the sea in Devon to now living the Midlands. Last I wrote on this blog I was still living and working in a hotel on the coast in Devon. I left the hotel in June 2013 and moved up north. I wanted to try something else and I'd done live-in jobs since I moved here so I wanted to try a different sort of job.

I thought I might do freight, doing imports and exports and shipping and applied for those sort of jobs. I also ended up applying to do some marketing of all things. When I realised it was door to door marketing I quickly escaped from there! My friends worked in care and suggested I try it. The more I thought about it the more I thought I would like care so I did try it and I have been at my job now for over 3 years and I love it. It's nice to find a job you really enjoy and I am sure this was the line of work I was supposed to do.

I have been living in the Midlands for over 3 years too. It is colder than Devon and there is no sea but I live in the countryside which has it's own beauty. Since my last update on this blog my sister has got married in 2014, my brother has got married in 2015 and I have been back to South Africa for both weddings. My grandfather passed away. I always used to visit him and have lunch with him every time I went to Zimbabwe.

I visited Zimbabwe with a friend in November 2016. It's amazing to go back to the place you grew up in and see all the people you know. I had such great catch ups with so many people and I had a really amazing time there! Zimbabwe has really modernized since I used to live there. They even have wifi! I remember using our laptop in Zim and waiting for the dial up modem to connect. I was impressed with the cinema in Zim and the recliner chairs. I never thought I would be reclining in a cinema in Zim! Thanks so much to those I met up with, it was great to catch up with you :) and for those I didn't get a chance to see, will see you next time!

I also visited the house I grew up in and lived in for 16 years of my life in Zimbabwe. It has been modernized and changed a lot since I lived there. I used the photo of me standing outside it in November 2016 when I visited as the picture on the top of this blog. It was nice going down memory lane while I was there. I have had such special times there.

The whole Christmas season last year went very fast and I worked part of it. I think this year is already going fast. I see lots of hopes and dreams posted online at the beginning of the new year. I hope everyone's hopes and dreams come true! I think any goal is achievable but you have to be willing to put in that special ingredient - effort!

This blog post is similar to when you press fast forward on your remote and it skips through. I am doing a quick catch up of the years gone by. How do you catch up nearly 4 years of your life! I still write on my writing blog and I will be writing some new posts on there too. This was my first blog for all my news and then I started another one for all my writing.

This may not be the most informative news post ever but I know you will be waiting in high anticipation of my next one ;)! Or maybe not. I think the best way to catch up is over the phone or even better in person but this will be a few of my news highlights in the meantime.

Congratulations on all the new babies, new engagements, weddings, graduations and lots of happy birthdays! There are so many all the time I don't get around to wishing everyone and miss a few. It's really nice to see people enjoying life whatever you are doing :). I hope this year is kind to you!

Until I write again I shall love and leave you,
God Bless,
Nicola Hill

May you all be having a good month ;)! hehe

Dear all you wonderful people!

Welcome to the blog of my life in the Uk. It costs 1p per word to read this blog. Payment can be made... Relax I am only joking.

I left you last with my news up to the 2nd of May. And there is no news since then. So this is the end of this post. I am only joking again, it's impossible for me not to have news because every day of our lives should be an adventure.

So I just finished updating my skype, I know that is such fascinating news... Moving on, as you can see I am in a very sense of humour mood today :).

Sometimes in life you find out things and you think "Oh..." and then it turns out so differently to how you expected, in a good way. Well that happened to me this week with one of our guests who actually turned out to be one of the most fascinating people I have spoken too. And again this goes to show God works wonders in your life.

I found an online Karaoke program which I really enjoyed and even put a couple of my recorded songs on facebook. Not that I can sing, I did describe my voice on my profile as sounding like someone scratching their nails down a chalkboard. Haha. Singing is not my talent but I absolutely love music and I have such an appreciation for music. I'm a HUGE music fan. In high school they gave me the nickname Dj Gomo which is Shona and it means Dj Hill because I was always playing music.

A few months ago I discovered two amazing up and coming artists and I'm going to share a song from each of the two with you. They both have beautiful voices and I have been totally amazed by their songs.

Below listen to Suzi Oravec who has one song available to buy and she actually has an album coming out soon and I've already pre ordered it.



And is Veronica Ballestrini whose first album was released in 2009 and she has a second album coming out. I have bought a lot of her songs off Itunes. I got asked to do something for a fan video for her and I made a funny youtube video for her. I will post the link to it later or just go check out my youtube channel, the link is on my facebook.



I have no doubt God has got great things in store for them. They are both promoting their music. If you like music, I would say these are two singers who will remind you why music is so wonderful, you can go have a listen if you want. Thank God I found them online.

On the 5th of May I noticed that my twitter @sayingsoftheday has more followers than I have facebook friends which is brilliant. I originally created this twitter because my late grandmother gave me a whole lot of sayings she translated from Greek and had typed out on a typewriter and she found then all on old Greek Calendars and so I wanted to have a twitter with all the sayings to have an online record. I typed them all out in a word document, there are over 400 sayings. Then people began to follow and wrote to me and told me how much they love the quotes and so I decided to make it a twitter for quotes I like and for the sayings my grandmother gave me and so sayings of the day began officially. I started on the 15th of August 2009. This is the link if you'd like to have a look - http://twitter.com/#!/sayingsoftheday

On the 8th of May which was mothers day, I wrote a tribute to my mother which I have already posted on my blog (it's the blog post before this one) and on her group which I created in memory of her on facebook. What a wonderful thing a mother is, you should cherish your mothers.

 I curled my hair for the day with a friends hair curler that I will be buying off her. Here is a pic from the 8th of May.



And here is a pic of us a farewell party I went to in Exeter.



On Monday the 9th of May I listened to this song over and over literally in all my free time the whole day! God is amazing!



I also went for a run/ walk with a friend on the beach. I am trying to get back in to my running. It's so wonderful to run again. I might have written about it before but I couldn't run for about 8 months since about June last year because I fell running and injured my ankle but by God's goodness and people's prayers it has healed and so I can do the thing I love again and run. It was a run/ walk because we are still getting fit haha.

And these are the verses that stood out to me:

‎"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us."
~ Ephesians 1: 7-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~ Ephesians 2: 8-10. And my obeservation of this one is: "It's wonderful that God has a plan for each of us. By God's grace through faith he saved us because we were created by Him for a purpose and we should walk with God to find our purpose. And how we are all His workmanship created individually by Him."

‎"and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3: 17-19

‎"Therefore, putting away falsehood, let everyone speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil." ~ Ephesian 4: 25-28.

Today has been my off day. I spent the morning sleeping of course and later walking around Sidmouth. I am getting excited about what is happening in under two weeks time. I know I still haven't mentioned my big news on my blog but I will, it will definitely get mentioned I am just not sure when. Maybe when it happens in about two weeks. Some of you already know my news or most of you I have spoken to do but I just can't officially announce it or put it in writing just yet. :)))

Tomorrow is departure day, which is a very busy day for us in housekeeping. We have about 2 departure days a week sometimes even more but we are used to it. I do like my job and my life here in the Uk. It's amazing how when you let God help you and guide you in your life how he turns your whole life around. And there are some really cool things that happen each day, I think "God wow how brilliant that wonderful things not matter how big or how small continually happen each day."

I will leave you with this blog post for now. Always remember I love hearing from people too whether I know you well or not. I love sharing my life and I love reading or listening about yours. I love connecting with people.

Love to you all,
God Bless,
Nicola Hill

Nix's news - Cyprus trip

Dear Friends and Family!

At long last I have decided to start keeping my news blog updated again with the days of my life ;)! All my exciting news of eating, sleeping and working ;).

It's been a very long time since my last post. This whole year has actually really gone so fast for me, we're already in September! I've had a really great summer here. Some highlights of my summer include spending time with friends, my towns folk week festival which was great, braais (barbecues) on the beach, swimming in the sea (yes I swam in the cold sea), kayaking, running, walking and of course laughing ;)! I can't write about everything I've done in the last few months but overall I can say that I really enjoyed this summer. The weather has been crazy this summer though, our river even flooded in my town and we've had the waves crashing over on to the sea front. I got splashed by a huge wave when I was filming the waves and that provided some entertainment for the couple watching me.

My most recent news as I've sure most of you have seen already, I went for a week holiday in Cyprus. It was very quickly planned and organised, all in a day! It was the best holiday, I had such an incredible time there. While I was there I must say it's the only other country besides Zimbabwe where I felt at home, it is actually half my home. It was nice to be able to speak some Greek again and read all the Greek writing everywhere. My camera broke on the plane just before I landed (haha on my France trip last year my camera memory card failed - I do great with cameras) but I borrowed one and used my phone and I have hundreds of photos.

I stayed with friends and arrived on Wednesday the 29th in the late evening and that night straight from the airport they took me to Larnaca and we ate souvlaki by the sea. My first full day there I spent the day in Larnaca at the beach. I played a racket game with a ball and bats and it's a very popular game in Cyprus and lots of fun. The sea was so warm, it was like swimming in a bath. The Uk sea is like swimming in ice water. We ate at a nice restaurant by the beach and I decided to eat raw fish and that was not my favourite haha. It was a full moon that night.

The next day on Friday I packed and we went to Protaras and stayed in a holiday flat. In Protaras they have that beautiful turquoise blue water. We swam when we arrived in the late afternoon and it was another full moon that night - blue moon. They had two full moons in a row and that only happens every few years. I went out to dinner on the main street in Protaras and we all had souvlaki. In the evening we went to Larnaca and we had a night out there at a beach bar, same place I had lunch on my first day.

On Saturday we spent the whole day on the beach in Protaras swimming and we hired a boat and went on a boat along the coast. We stopped the boat for a while in a very beautiful part and all jumped in the sea. In the evening we had dinner at a Greek restuarant and I had Kleftiko (Greek Lamb) and after dinner we went to a hotel that has a cliff bar where you can overlook Protaras from high up but there was a private function so we couldn't get to that section right on the edge but we could see some of it.

On Sunday we also spent the day on another part of the beach in Protaras. It was the beach right near the hotel where I stayed in with my family when I was a kid. In the late afternoon I walked to the hotel and took pictures of it, I have few memories from there. I remember jumping off the deck in to the water with my sister and my dad. My sister and I were swimming with our tubes while my dad tread water. At Fig Tree beach which is what the beach is called, there was a rock in the middle which my friend and I swam to and I touched the rock - I made a point of touching it haha. In the evening we went to a Greek restuarant and the cutest kitten was watching us eat. There are cats everywhere in Cyprus, everywhere! I took this photo of him/ her :



On Monday on our last morning there we went to Ayia Napa and spent the morning on Nissi beach. Ayia Nppa also has stunning turquoise water and I think I liked that beach the most. It was very shallow but as you swim further and further from the shore eventually you get to deep water where you can have a very nice swim.

Here's a pic of Ayia Napa:



Monday afternoon they drove me to Limmasol to visit friends there and in the evening we walked along the sea front and explored the 5 star hotels. Such massive beautiful hotels! We ate pizza on the sea front listened to the sea. It was a nice calm soft sound of the sea that you can just listen to forever.

On Tuesday I went around Nicosia and visited a Monastery which was awesome. After the Monastery they took me to a church that's built in a cave - it was amazing! In the evening I met up with friends from Zim at a fantastic coffee place.

On Wednesday I went to the city centre in the old part of Nicosia. Nicosia is the only capitol in the world that's split in to two. Right in the middle of the city centre there's a border and the other side is the Turkish side of Cyprus and you need your passport to cross over. Before the airport I visited a family friend and then they took me to the airport and it was time to say goodbye. I think I brought back half of Cyprus with me ;).

I had such a wonderful time there. I can't even begin to describe how much this trip meant to me. I loved spending time with everyone I know there. I had such a great time and lots of laughs with them :)! I will definitely go back there :). I missed it when I got back. I felt like I had been in a different world. It really was like being in Paradise.

I arrived back on Thursday the 5th of September and started work on Friday the 6th. When I arrived back I was surprised that it was so sunny and warm here and spent the afternoon on the beach in shorts and a t-shirt just like I was in Cyprus every day.

I've been working very hard since I got back but also spending time with friends and going out and all sorts. I had a great time with friends last night at a birthday party. Tomorrow is my half day - I work until lunchtime on Wednesday and then I am off until Friday :).

I do have more plans to travel in the next few months so watch this space :).

I am off to bed now so I shall love and leave you for now,
Until I write again,
Nicola

PS - lots of photos of my trip on my facebook!

Spring and Sun and all things fun!

Dear Friends and Family,

Firstly our clocks go forward an hour! So from tomorrow onwards we have jumped an hour ahead!

The weather has been fantastic! Since Thurday we have had sunshine! The most wonderful part about it is I live by the sea! So I have been out and about quite a lot :)! It's really been a (lovely) few days lol! I have heard the word lovely so much recently!

Yesterday I was in the city with a friend and went to a show in the evening but couldn't stay, I was very tired after departure day so I headed home.

I cannot upload a couple of pictures I took, my blogger uploader is not working so well! I'm sure I will have more pictures to upload later on! I am like the local paparazzi! Lol I love capturing things! Especially beautiful sights and people!

I have 2 days off now :)! Fun in the sun! If there is sun lol!

So that's an idea of what I've been up to!

Plus another thing that really made me go wow is Psalm 33:5 "the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord." FULL! Woop - an awesome God who loves us always! Who is directing us in our lives.

This scripture is one of my favourites. Isaiah 40: 28-31 "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and not be weary and young men shall fall exhausted but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

I feel a new post coming up on my writing blog - nicolathewriter.blogspot.com
I also post things on my writing blog on tumblr too.

I had literally just posted this and this song came on my spotify! The lyrics and everything are awesome and could not think of a better song to add to this post, it's so good and I went back to this post edited it and it's below for you :)!



With that I shall love and leave you,
Until I write again,
God bless,
Nicola

Birthdays all around

Dear Friends and Family!

For one thing this blog post comes from me typing off my blackberry as I don't have internet at the moment but when you want to write, you want to write :)!

I guess a good place to start is with the title! Well 3 people I met some at work and on a bus had 3 birthdays one day after the other, each of them turning 80. After the 2nd one it really got me thinking how much of a story you must have to tell with 80 years. Even though I have only lived just over a quarter of that, I still have a lot I've done so with 80 years you must have some really good stories to tell. I like hearing people's stories about what they have done in their lives no matter their age. Every life is a story.

While still on the topic of birthdays, earlier this month was my step-brothers birthday, yesterday was a friends birthday, today is my dads birthday and tomorrow is my step-sisters birthday and next month is my birthday.

I think the greatist thing about someone's birthday is that it gives you a day to say Happy Birthday and think about them and how they special they are. I think everyone adds something to your life and however you met them or well you know them there's only one of them and I like to take time to appreciate people. I try to wish everyone I can happy birthday. Online has got a great way of keeping track of birthdays and wishing those people you know around the world and that's what is keeping me online these days because I want to wish everyone. You always have that special feeling when it's your birthday and you should because you're an irreplaceable part of the world!

It's been warmer here in the Uk as we go in to Spring, really nice walking and living by the sea. I find it very funny how excited they get about the sun here. I have just been enjoying my life here, my job and my friends. It's really hit me that I have been here for over 2 years now when I never intended to stay this long but in that time I have met some amazing people and made friends from all corners of the world and built a life for myself here so I guess this is where I am meant to be for now although later on who knows. I have been enjoying life and things are going really well at the moment. I haven't been online as much, especially on facebook, haha strange coming from me or writing news as much but I am happy and healthy and of course with my unique sense of humour haha ;)!

I do love keeping in touch with friends and family who are spread out far and wide across the earth. I am always up for a text, call, skype call, chat, email - you get the idea! Also always up for hanging out if you are not so spread out and closer to me on this earth lol! Even for those who may not know me as well, got to start somewhere right ;)!

Best way to reach me quickly I guess my mobile, bbm or email or twitter even lol because I get those updates on my mobile. I am not disappearing, I am a contactable person just giving you the details incase I may not sign in to facebook as much for those of you who contact me regularly there.

I thank God for my life here for every piece of it and every good piece of me is a piece He has put together! All glory to Him!

PS: Our internet came back just as I was finishing this so I do added a song woop! I absolutely love music, always have, always will!

I have been listening to this song a lot recently and saw it posted on facebook today and I love the lyrics!

Part of the lyrics "Come and take my hand I won't let you go, I'll be your friend I'll love you so deeply"



Love and God Bless,
Until I write again,
Nix