Dear Friends and Family!
I've decided not to continue this blog. Thank you for following about a year of my life! It's been a great year and my favourite month of the year starts tomorrow!
If you want to find out what I'm up to, you know where to find me :).
December already looks like it's going to be a wonderful month with a trip to Paris! And other exciting things happening :)!
And I'm really looking forward to next year :)!
I love having each of you in my life and being a part of yours!
May you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
And of course we have to have a song for my last blog post. And I think this one is perfect :)!
God Bless,
Keep in Touch,
Nicola
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Thanks!
Dear Friends and Family.
My previous blog posts have had the theme of decisions and change. In our lives we have to make choices and the choices we make determine the course of our lives. We can feel the weight of them on our shoulders, which way to go? what to do? A few weeks ago I had a blog post that was entitled "I got my answer" - the answer is that I have to trust God with my future just like this:
Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Another verse in Matthew 6: 34:"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Which brings me to the title for my blog post. While I don't know what lies ahead and where the road may lead, I do know that I am thankful for my life here, my friends, my church, my job and all the memories and opportunities I have had! I am most thankful for God and for each of you being a part of life. Thank you all! You're awesome for just being you! Each of you are unique and add something special to my life.
This blog post has a story which I have copied and pasted below. God does have a plan for our lives but at the same time we can't sit back and say "God's going to do it." We have to take the step and God will guide our steps and I looked up this story which reminded me of that.
A guy is in his house when horrendous rains start falling. The water begins to rise, and before long it becomes a major flood. The roads are covered in water making driving impossible. After awhile, a boat comes along.
A rescue worker in the boat yells, “Come on! We’re here to save you! Get in the boat!”
The guy in the house responds, “No! I’ve got faith that God will save me!”
After an unsuccessful rescue attempt, the boat leaves. The water continues to rise, and the guy is forced up to the second floor of his home.
The county sheriff’s boat comes along, and the sheriff yells, “Come on! You are going to drown if you don’t get in the boat.”
From his second floor window the guy says, “No! I’ll be okay! I have faith God will save me.” The boat moves on.
The house, except for a small part on the roof, is submerged in water. The guy is on the roof as a helicopter hovers overhead. The pilot shouts out, “This is your last chance! Climb up the ladder to safety! If you don’t come now you’re going to drown!”
The guy hollers, “No, thanks! God is going to save me!” The pilot shrugs his shoulders and flies away.
The house is covered, and the guy is swept away by the flood waters. He ascends to the Pearly Gates, where God is waiting for his arrival.
He asks God, “What happened? I have been devoted to you and had absolute faith that you would save me. Why did you let me down?”
God answers back, “What more do you want? I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”
Yesterday was departure day and although we finished late it went really well, I was in my element cleaning my rooms.
Today was my half day, I finished work at 12:30pm and I have the whole day off tomorrow. I am going to watch the new twilight movie tonight with a friend because I can't wait to see it! I had a glass of wine this afternoon, I do enjoy a good glass and to chill out once in a while and as I'm going to Paris next month and they make some of the best wine in the world I'm sure some wine tasting is in order!
Someone also gave me a grapefruit this afternoon and I was really excited! Ok I know you may think it's just a grapefruit but to me it shows how much you can appreciate and be thankful for the litte things in life. A lot of the time our thoughts are revolved around what we want but what about what we have?
So today I am thankful for everything I have in this moment!
THANKS! (Glory to God!)
My friend gave me this song and she said this could be our song for life (she knows I have a song of the day on facebook almost all the time) because the words are what every human being should feel. So this is not only my song for the day but my song for life :)!
With that I shall love and leave you,
Until I write again,
Love always
Nicola
PS: Love to hear your news and how your life is going.
My previous blog posts have had the theme of decisions and change. In our lives we have to make choices and the choices we make determine the course of our lives. We can feel the weight of them on our shoulders, which way to go? what to do? A few weeks ago I had a blog post that was entitled "I got my answer" - the answer is that I have to trust God with my future just like this:
Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Another verse in Matthew 6: 34:"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Which brings me to the title for my blog post. While I don't know what lies ahead and where the road may lead, I do know that I am thankful for my life here, my friends, my church, my job and all the memories and opportunities I have had! I am most thankful for God and for each of you being a part of life. Thank you all! You're awesome for just being you! Each of you are unique and add something special to my life.
This blog post has a story which I have copied and pasted below. God does have a plan for our lives but at the same time we can't sit back and say "God's going to do it." We have to take the step and God will guide our steps and I looked up this story which reminded me of that.
A guy is in his house when horrendous rains start falling. The water begins to rise, and before long it becomes a major flood. The roads are covered in water making driving impossible. After awhile, a boat comes along.
A rescue worker in the boat yells, “Come on! We’re here to save you! Get in the boat!”
The guy in the house responds, “No! I’ve got faith that God will save me!”
After an unsuccessful rescue attempt, the boat leaves. The water continues to rise, and the guy is forced up to the second floor of his home.
The county sheriff’s boat comes along, and the sheriff yells, “Come on! You are going to drown if you don’t get in the boat.”
From his second floor window the guy says, “No! I’ll be okay! I have faith God will save me.” The boat moves on.
The house, except for a small part on the roof, is submerged in water. The guy is on the roof as a helicopter hovers overhead. The pilot shouts out, “This is your last chance! Climb up the ladder to safety! If you don’t come now you’re going to drown!”
The guy hollers, “No, thanks! God is going to save me!” The pilot shrugs his shoulders and flies away.
The house is covered, and the guy is swept away by the flood waters. He ascends to the Pearly Gates, where God is waiting for his arrival.
He asks God, “What happened? I have been devoted to you and had absolute faith that you would save me. Why did you let me down?”
God answers back, “What more do you want? I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”
Yesterday was departure day and although we finished late it went really well, I was in my element cleaning my rooms.
Today was my half day, I finished work at 12:30pm and I have the whole day off tomorrow. I am going to watch the new twilight movie tonight with a friend because I can't wait to see it! I had a glass of wine this afternoon, I do enjoy a good glass and to chill out once in a while and as I'm going to Paris next month and they make some of the best wine in the world I'm sure some wine tasting is in order!
Someone also gave me a grapefruit this afternoon and I was really excited! Ok I know you may think it's just a grapefruit but to me it shows how much you can appreciate and be thankful for the litte things in life. A lot of the time our thoughts are revolved around what we want but what about what we have?
So today I am thankful for everything I have in this moment!
THANKS! (Glory to God!)
My friend gave me this song and she said this could be our song for life (she knows I have a song of the day on facebook almost all the time) because the words are what every human being should feel. So this is not only my song for the day but my song for life :)!
With that I shall love and leave you,
Until I write again,
Love always
Nicola
PS: Love to hear your news and how your life is going.
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Bonjour!
Dear Friends and Family!
Another week in the life of Nicola Hill! Haha well it's nice to share a bit of my life through my blog posts and keep you updated of what's going on.
This is one of the bible verses that has been on my heart the past week. It's actually my favourite verse in the bible because it shows how we should treat people. I found a blog post someone wrote on it too which was really good!
Matthew 5: 43-48. "You have heard that is was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'
This was one of my songs of the day the past week because actually as I was working it popped in to my head I was singing it but no one heard me (good for them lol).
On Friday the 11th our most regular guest in the hotel passed away in a car accident. It was a sad day for us as he really was a part of the hotel and everyone knew him. He was a very unique man and he had his own style and way about him. On that day I got reminded of this, "Life is precious, cherish yours! Accidents happen and in the blink of an eye someone can be gone." In the evening I went out to a pub for drinks with friends after work.
On Saturday the 12th (this is the reason for my blog title) - it was exactly 1 month until I go to.... PARIS :D! I'm going there for about 3 days. When I was in Zim I always dreamed of travelling and seeing the world and Paris has always been my number one destination and now I am finally getting the opportunity to go there! All thanks to God, He is really good, I've had so many things happen that I only dreamed about. I'm trying to learn a bit of French before I go, I do some because I studied it for a year in school but when I was 13. Sometimes I hear my French accent and I think if the French hear me, they may kick me out of France lol. I'm actually very intrigued by languages at the moment and there are so many I want to learn!
I got Sunday night off which was nice, I needed the rest and I'd been to Exeter earlier. By Tuesday (yesterday) I had actually only had 15 hours sleep in 3 days and I could feel it! Today I woke up after a really good nights sleep and the difference is amazing.
On Monday I had one of the best departure days (where most of the guests leave the hotel, busy day for housekeepers) I finished my rooms quite quickly :)!
Yesterday I went to Exeter and had an awesome time at Boston Tea Party (my 1st time there) catching up with a friend. In the evening I was hanging out with one of my friends and talking to others about Paris and I really can't wait for December now lol!
And as I've mentioned in my last post there is a sea of decisions heading my way. Last night my mind felt like a wave of confusion. I've had so much on my mind but we have an awesome God so I am sure I will figure it out :).
This bible verse is my verse for today, it's very fitting.
"Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths." ~Proverbs 3: 5-6
With that I shall love and leave you until I write again,
Keep in touch,
Nicola
Another week in the life of Nicola Hill! Haha well it's nice to share a bit of my life through my blog posts and keep you updated of what's going on.
This is one of the bible verses that has been on my heart the past week. It's actually my favourite verse in the bible because it shows how we should treat people. I found a blog post someone wrote on it too which was really good!
Matthew 5: 43-48. "You have heard that is was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'
This was one of my songs of the day the past week because actually as I was working it popped in to my head I was singing it but no one heard me (good for them lol).
On Friday the 11th our most regular guest in the hotel passed away in a car accident. It was a sad day for us as he really was a part of the hotel and everyone knew him. He was a very unique man and he had his own style and way about him. On that day I got reminded of this, "Life is precious, cherish yours! Accidents happen and in the blink of an eye someone can be gone." In the evening I went out to a pub for drinks with friends after work.
On Saturday the 12th (this is the reason for my blog title) - it was exactly 1 month until I go to.... PARIS :D! I'm going there for about 3 days. When I was in Zim I always dreamed of travelling and seeing the world and Paris has always been my number one destination and now I am finally getting the opportunity to go there! All thanks to God, He is really good, I've had so many things happen that I only dreamed about. I'm trying to learn a bit of French before I go, I do some because I studied it for a year in school but when I was 13. Sometimes I hear my French accent and I think if the French hear me, they may kick me out of France lol. I'm actually very intrigued by languages at the moment and there are so many I want to learn!
I got Sunday night off which was nice, I needed the rest and I'd been to Exeter earlier. By Tuesday (yesterday) I had actually only had 15 hours sleep in 3 days and I could feel it! Today I woke up after a really good nights sleep and the difference is amazing.
On Monday I had one of the best departure days (where most of the guests leave the hotel, busy day for housekeepers) I finished my rooms quite quickly :)!
Yesterday I went to Exeter and had an awesome time at Boston Tea Party (my 1st time there) catching up with a friend. In the evening I was hanging out with one of my friends and talking to others about Paris and I really can't wait for December now lol!
And as I've mentioned in my last post there is a sea of decisions heading my way. Last night my mind felt like a wave of confusion. I've had so much on my mind but we have an awesome God so I am sure I will figure it out :).
This bible verse is my verse for today, it's very fitting.
"Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths." ~Proverbs 3: 5-6
With that I shall love and leave you until I write again,
Keep in touch,
Nicola
Thursday 10 November 2011
I got my answer :)!
Dear Friends and Family!
1 week since my last blog update! The weeks seem to be going fast these days which is a good thing, it's getting closer and closer to my favourite month of the year and an exciting adventure will also be happening in that month :).
On Saturday the 5th it was Guy Fawkes as you know which was Bonfire night here in the Uk too where a lot of people around the Uk lit Bonfires and some had fireworks. I was working that night and it was Christmas for us in the hotel, we have Christmas every Tuesday and Saturday until actual Christmas and yes I had to wear my santa hat for the guests.
This was one of my songs of the day last week:
On Sunday I went to Costa in my town.. It's a lovely coffee shop and I think it will be my new place to write and finish up some writing I've planned to do for ages.
This is another song that actually would be my theme for the week. I really like the lyrics from it. When I'm facing decisions, I like to see what God has got to say about them before I do anything. I may have things I want but more importantly I'd like to see what God wants for me. And well as far as what I should or shouldn't do, you've seen the title for this blog post.
In fact I've been doing so much thinking recently. I suppose because it's also getting to the end of the year and I've had so many flashbacks of this year and flashbacks even going back to SA and Zim days. So many memories.
Monday the 7th was departure day and I don't think I did much after the departure except sleep lol. On Tuesday was my half day so I work until 12:30pm then I am off until Thursday. I got baby powder all over me in the morning, a lot of people love putting baby powder all over their bathrooms.
On Wednesday morning I tried to sleep in but it didn't work and I was up fairly early doing all my washing - 3 loads of washing, I don't know how I had so much this time and I do it every week. As I said on twitter my energy level yesterday was not even at a level lol. However I managed to go out shopping and exploring different shops in my town. The funniest was a few months ago I found out this shop called "Jullian Graves" was actually a sweet/ food shop. I'd lived here for almost a year and always assumed it was something else condering most of the population in my town is 60+. Yesterday I went in it for my 1st time and bought way too many things and I've eaten them all already :O.
Probably yesterday's adventure guilted me in to running today! Well actually it was such a beautiful day today that I ran straight after my morning shift and I ran the whole way and pushed myself too. It felt really good. Climbing up the stairs to the kitchen later was slightly challenging though lol. I love running with music and because this song came on my ipod while I was running and it really made me miss home in Africa, it's my song of the day! I also thought of how my running journey started there! I used to run at 5am in the morning before school in Zimbabwe and I was always doing cross country in school. And in South Africa I used to run after work at about 5 or 6pm. And now I have a new memory of my running journey in my park in my town, which is stunning :)!
This evening I am working tonight, for now, I will be having my afternoon nap.
I have lots of things coming up in the next few weeks and months so lots to look forward to :D!
Love you guys,
Until I write again,
Nicola
1 week since my last blog update! The weeks seem to be going fast these days which is a good thing, it's getting closer and closer to my favourite month of the year and an exciting adventure will also be happening in that month :).
On Saturday the 5th it was Guy Fawkes as you know which was Bonfire night here in the Uk too where a lot of people around the Uk lit Bonfires and some had fireworks. I was working that night and it was Christmas for us in the hotel, we have Christmas every Tuesday and Saturday until actual Christmas and yes I had to wear my santa hat for the guests.
This was one of my songs of the day last week:
On Sunday I went to Costa in my town.. It's a lovely coffee shop and I think it will be my new place to write and finish up some writing I've planned to do for ages.
This is another song that actually would be my theme for the week. I really like the lyrics from it. When I'm facing decisions, I like to see what God has got to say about them before I do anything. I may have things I want but more importantly I'd like to see what God wants for me. And well as far as what I should or shouldn't do, you've seen the title for this blog post.
In fact I've been doing so much thinking recently. I suppose because it's also getting to the end of the year and I've had so many flashbacks of this year and flashbacks even going back to SA and Zim days. So many memories.
Monday the 7th was departure day and I don't think I did much after the departure except sleep lol. On Tuesday was my half day so I work until 12:30pm then I am off until Thursday. I got baby powder all over me in the morning, a lot of people love putting baby powder all over their bathrooms.
On Wednesday morning I tried to sleep in but it didn't work and I was up fairly early doing all my washing - 3 loads of washing, I don't know how I had so much this time and I do it every week. As I said on twitter my energy level yesterday was not even at a level lol. However I managed to go out shopping and exploring different shops in my town. The funniest was a few months ago I found out this shop called "Jullian Graves" was actually a sweet/ food shop. I'd lived here for almost a year and always assumed it was something else condering most of the population in my town is 60+. Yesterday I went in it for my 1st time and bought way too many things and I've eaten them all already :O.
Probably yesterday's adventure guilted me in to running today! Well actually it was such a beautiful day today that I ran straight after my morning shift and I ran the whole way and pushed myself too. It felt really good. Climbing up the stairs to the kitchen later was slightly challenging though lol. I love running with music and because this song came on my ipod while I was running and it really made me miss home in Africa, it's my song of the day! I also thought of how my running journey started there! I used to run at 5am in the morning before school in Zimbabwe and I was always doing cross country in school. And in South Africa I used to run after work at about 5 or 6pm. And now I have a new memory of my running journey in my park in my town, which is stunning :)!
This evening I am working tonight, for now, I will be having my afternoon nap.
I have lots of things coming up in the next few weeks and months so lots to look forward to :D!
Love you guys,
Until I write again,
Nicola
Friday 4 November 2011
We must stand together and Leaving, Learning and Loving
Dear Friends and Family!
I decided to update my blog already, although I only have 2 days worth of news however you've probably noticed by blog updates are not only about my news ;)!
Although I will start with my news. On Thursday (yesterday) I was back to the world of work after my days off. I went for a run in the afternoon with a friend, it had been weeks since I last ran and I could feel it lol but it felt so good to be running. It always does! I've been running all my life and I usually have music when I run and the feeling is like no other!
This morning it was departure day (very busy day for us) and after my shift I literally ate lunch and then went and napped all afternoon. This evening I was serving in the dining room and one of my tables made me laugh because the one lady asked a few times where the menu was and then when she was handed the menu she said she couldn't read it because of her eyesight. I think it's one of those instances where you had to have been there. I like meeting new people and there are a lot of interesting things that happen at work.
This evening I was watching the American X factor - I haven't watched many of the episodes but I enjoy it and then I decided to write this blog post mainly to post this song. Now you'll see where my blog title comes from!
They're such great lyrics and it really gets you thinking!
"We must stand together
There's no getting even
Hand in hand forever
That's when we all win
That's, that's, that's when we all win."
And I'm really looking forward to this book coming out (November 22nd), if you haven't read her books yet you should they're amazing:
In fact here are the trailers for the first and second book in that series too:
The first book is called Leaving:
The second book is called Learning which I just finished yesterday:
As for what this weekend brings, I will find out. In the meantime God bless you all! You're all so special - thanking God for all of you in my life!
Thanks for reading my writing, I love sharing with you and I love to write.
I read this amazing quote now from Living the Love Dare - A Year of daily reminders to guide your heart:
God is sovereign. He does things His way. He's not a genie in a lamp that submits your every wish. But He does love you and desires an intimate relationship with you. This doesn't happen apart from prayer.
All in all I've had a good couple days :), I hope you have too.
Love hearing your news too,
I shall love and leave you until I write again,
Nicola
I decided to update my blog already, although I only have 2 days worth of news however you've probably noticed by blog updates are not only about my news ;)!
Although I will start with my news. On Thursday (yesterday) I was back to the world of work after my days off. I went for a run in the afternoon with a friend, it had been weeks since I last ran and I could feel it lol but it felt so good to be running. It always does! I've been running all my life and I usually have music when I run and the feeling is like no other!
This morning it was departure day (very busy day for us) and after my shift I literally ate lunch and then went and napped all afternoon. This evening I was serving in the dining room and one of my tables made me laugh because the one lady asked a few times where the menu was and then when she was handed the menu she said she couldn't read it because of her eyesight. I think it's one of those instances where you had to have been there. I like meeting new people and there are a lot of interesting things that happen at work.
This evening I was watching the American X factor - I haven't watched many of the episodes but I enjoy it and then I decided to write this blog post mainly to post this song. Now you'll see where my blog title comes from!
They're such great lyrics and it really gets you thinking!
"We must stand together
There's no getting even
Hand in hand forever
That's when we all win
That's, that's, that's when we all win."
And I'm really looking forward to this book coming out (November 22nd), if you haven't read her books yet you should they're amazing:
In fact here are the trailers for the first and second book in that series too:
The first book is called Leaving:
The second book is called Learning which I just finished yesterday:
As for what this weekend brings, I will find out. In the meantime God bless you all! You're all so special - thanking God for all of you in my life!
Thanks for reading my writing, I love sharing with you and I love to write.
I read this amazing quote now from Living the Love Dare - A Year of daily reminders to guide your heart:
God is sovereign. He does things His way. He's not a genie in a lamp that submits your every wish. But He does love you and desires an intimate relationship with you. This doesn't happen apart from prayer.
All in all I've had a good couple days :), I hope you have too.
Love hearing your news too,
I shall love and leave you until I write again,
Nicola
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Movember has arrived!
Dear Friends and Family!
Here comes my first blog post in November. Apparently it's Movember month too where men grow moustaches for charity.
I was off work on Friday (28th October) and I started reading my book Learning by Karen Kingsbury and I'm still reading it now, can hardly put it down, she's such a brilliant Christian author.
On the 29th we had a party for one of my friends because it was his birthday. It was a lot of fun!
On the 30th our clocks changed so now we have gone back an hour. Therefore I am now 2 hours behind Africa and 4 hours ahead of most people I know in America. Actually before I went to sleep the night before I set my phone back an hour but I didn't know it would go back an hour automatically too. So in the morning my alarm didn't go off and someone knocked on my door to wake me up haha, I was also confused about the time and what job I was doing when I opened my door because I'd just woken up lol. A few of the girls went to work early too because they forgot about the time change lol. Something always happens with this time change! Later I had my Costa coffee in my town! The Costa here is so nice! This was my song for that day, it's such an awesome song!
On the 31st it was Halloween and I went trick or treating lol. No I didn't. I also had the night off though and watched movies with a friend. It was departure day and it went very well. I also got good news regarding... well actually I'll tell you later ;)!
Yesterday, woah this must be the quickest blog update ever seeing as I'm already on yesterday! It was my half day which means I work till 12:30pm and then I am off until Thursday. I caught up with a few people. I love how technology helps you keep in touch.
In fact today has been a family catch up more or less, I've been catching up with quite a few of my family members the past couple days. It's been cold and rainy here today and I've had a very relaxed resting day which is nice, you do need to catch up once in a while. I am going to keep reading my amazing book later. Also went to Costa and bought a steamer. If you haven't had a steamer you should - they make my world - haha but really they are very good!
Oh yes and as of yesterday well let's just say it's happening! As to what is happening well you will find out :)!
I guess my blog is more of my basic news, it's to keep everyone updated but not everything is in my blog and it's still not a play by play of my life. However it gives you an idea of what I'm up to :)!
I love these verses:
"I can do all things in him who strengthens me." ~ Phillipians 4:13
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all," ~ 2 Corinthians 14
I was reading something in the book I am reading that said, "Remember... when you can't take another step, God will carry you." It's true God is always there! He's watching over you!
I shall love and leave you until I write again, I am off to get all cosy on this rainy day and read a book :).
And remember if you want to chat, I'm only a phone call, skype call, facebook message away! I'll always have time for you.
Keep in touch, love to hear your news and what is happening in your lives.
Love Nix
PS: (for the guys) so who is growing a moustache? lol
Here comes my first blog post in November. Apparently it's Movember month too where men grow moustaches for charity.
I was off work on Friday (28th October) and I started reading my book Learning by Karen Kingsbury and I'm still reading it now, can hardly put it down, she's such a brilliant Christian author.
On the 29th we had a party for one of my friends because it was his birthday. It was a lot of fun!
On the 30th our clocks changed so now we have gone back an hour. Therefore I am now 2 hours behind Africa and 4 hours ahead of most people I know in America. Actually before I went to sleep the night before I set my phone back an hour but I didn't know it would go back an hour automatically too. So in the morning my alarm didn't go off and someone knocked on my door to wake me up haha, I was also confused about the time and what job I was doing when I opened my door because I'd just woken up lol. A few of the girls went to work early too because they forgot about the time change lol. Something always happens with this time change! Later I had my Costa coffee in my town! The Costa here is so nice! This was my song for that day, it's such an awesome song!
On the 31st it was Halloween and I went trick or treating lol. No I didn't. I also had the night off though and watched movies with a friend. It was departure day and it went very well. I also got good news regarding... well actually I'll tell you later ;)!
Yesterday, woah this must be the quickest blog update ever seeing as I'm already on yesterday! It was my half day which means I work till 12:30pm and then I am off until Thursday. I caught up with a few people. I love how technology helps you keep in touch.
In fact today has been a family catch up more or less, I've been catching up with quite a few of my family members the past couple days. It's been cold and rainy here today and I've had a very relaxed resting day which is nice, you do need to catch up once in a while. I am going to keep reading my amazing book later. Also went to Costa and bought a steamer. If you haven't had a steamer you should - they make my world - haha but really they are very good!
Oh yes and as of yesterday well let's just say it's happening! As to what is happening well you will find out :)!
I guess my blog is more of my basic news, it's to keep everyone updated but not everything is in my blog and it's still not a play by play of my life. However it gives you an idea of what I'm up to :)!
I love these verses:
"I can do all things in him who strengthens me." ~ Phillipians 4:13
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all," ~ 2 Corinthians 14
I was reading something in the book I am reading that said, "Remember... when you can't take another step, God will carry you." It's true God is always there! He's watching over you!
I shall love and leave you until I write again, I am off to get all cosy on this rainy day and read a book :).
And remember if you want to chat, I'm only a phone call, skype call, facebook message away! I'll always have time for you.
Keep in touch, love to hear your news and what is happening in your lives.
Love Nix
PS: (for the guys) so who is growing a moustache? lol
Friday 28 October 2011
Christmas decorations are going up!
Dear Friends and Family,
What a good week it has been! And now back to where I left you last!
On the 20th of October it was departure day. You know sometimes you can daydream and the daydream seems so real, well I had one of those moments on that day. Your mind just runs away with you. It wasn't a bad daydream just something I'm not quite ready for yet!
On the 21st I finally wrote the 2nd blog post on my website called "Bravery." I created a website for my new writing blog because I'm writing other things on there. This is the link - http://nicolathewriter.weebly.com/. I also love how some days can completely turn around and this was one of them - I've had a few suprises like that, it's so nice when you think your day is going one way, it take another direction.
Bible verses I post on my facebook:
Thomas said to him, "Lord we do not know where we are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also, henceforth you know him and have seen him." ~John 14: 5-7
Every Sunday we have a fire alarm test and on the 23rd they left the fire alarms on on for about 30 minutes - it was like music to my ears, so peaceful lol! And later in the afternoon more peace followed, I filmed a video of the sea when my friend and I went walking. Such beautiful beach weather!
On the 24th (on Monday) it was departure day again and as I was pulling a trolley to unpack the linen, the basket on top of the trolley fell over and all the linen fell out and there was an empty wine bottle there too and it broke. When I bent down to pick up the linen and broken glass I cut my finger quite deeply on a piece of broken glass and for a small finger there was a lot of blood. Anyway never mind the gory details but I still have the cut on my finger now and it's still painful at times but I'm always hurting myself so I'm used to it :). It's typically me! (Walking disaster).
Anthem lights are an awesome band if you haven't heard them before, this is one of their songs I found the other day;
On the 24th the weather went from wild to wilder! I could hear the sea from my room and it was raining, it sounded like we were in the middle of a storm!
Sometimes people post pictures and looking at them takes you back. I've had a lot of things that took me back to the time when I lived in Zimbabwe and my church I went to there! Such good memories! I had such a great life in Zim and thank God I've built a life for myself here too.
This is my favourite skit EVER because it's such a beautiful message! I would love make one with friends one day! I always go back and watch all sorts of versions of it! It's soooo good!
I got very excited on Tuesday because I heard someone talking in the kitchen and they said it was going to rain for the next few days but on Tuesday in the morning we had SUN! It did rain later though, when I was doing my washing of course haha! I only worked in the morning on Tuesday and then was off work until Thursday. I had a great time catching up with friends on Skype and my friend and I had the night off together so we had a nice chilled evening.
On Wednesday, I got to sleep in!!! It had been a while since I had a morning to sleep in, I only have 1 day to sleep in a week usually. Although I'm not really a person who enjoys my sleep that much, I hardly sleep but after a certain amount of time it catches up with you and you need to get some zzzz....
I saw a squirrel at the University of Exeter when I was there!
Posting this picture reminded me of an even better picture I took while I was walking up to the high street when I had just arrived it Exeter!
It made me smile as I was walking up to the high street because it was randomly there! Someone said it looks like it's wearing Stilletos hahahaha and it does!
I usually have a song of the day which is a song I really like that stays in my mind throughout the day! I really love music!
This was my song of the day yesterday:
Well someone told me this video reminded them of me :P....
I like this quote a friend gave to me, "A friend is one who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love and encourages you with hope."
Today was departure day again. We finished work an hour later than usual. After lunch I went for a walk with a friend in the park and took this picture. You can see the beauty of the English Autumn.
And now to explain my blog title. Today they are putting up Christmas decorations all over the hotel! It looks really nice :) I have photos from last year too and I'll take some again this year! And tomorrow night we start our "Tinsel and Turkey" which is every Tuesday and Saturday night we have a Christmas dinner for the guests and we have to wear Christmas hats because not all our guests stay with us for Christmas and so every Tuesday and Saturday from now until Christmas we will be having "Christmas" for the guests. I may take a picture of me in my Christmas hat... maybe.
I've very excited for December as well as being the Christmas season and my favourite time of year there - a trip may be in the works too!
Oh yes and my book Learning by Karen Kingsbury finally arrived yesterday and I have the night off tonight so maybe I'll have a bit of a read later!
I shall love and leave you until I write again lol,
Nix
What a good week it has been! And now back to where I left you last!
On the 20th of October it was departure day. You know sometimes you can daydream and the daydream seems so real, well I had one of those moments on that day. Your mind just runs away with you. It wasn't a bad daydream just something I'm not quite ready for yet!
On the 21st I finally wrote the 2nd blog post on my website called "Bravery." I created a website for my new writing blog because I'm writing other things on there. This is the link - http://nicolathewriter.weebly.com/. I also love how some days can completely turn around and this was one of them - I've had a few suprises like that, it's so nice when you think your day is going one way, it take another direction.
Bible verses I post on my facebook:
Thomas said to him, "Lord we do not know where we are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also, henceforth you know him and have seen him." ~John 14: 5-7
Every Sunday we have a fire alarm test and on the 23rd they left the fire alarms on on for about 30 minutes - it was like music to my ears, so peaceful lol! And later in the afternoon more peace followed, I filmed a video of the sea when my friend and I went walking. Such beautiful beach weather!
On the 24th (on Monday) it was departure day again and as I was pulling a trolley to unpack the linen, the basket on top of the trolley fell over and all the linen fell out and there was an empty wine bottle there too and it broke. When I bent down to pick up the linen and broken glass I cut my finger quite deeply on a piece of broken glass and for a small finger there was a lot of blood. Anyway never mind the gory details but I still have the cut on my finger now and it's still painful at times but I'm always hurting myself so I'm used to it :). It's typically me! (Walking disaster).
Anthem lights are an awesome band if you haven't heard them before, this is one of their songs I found the other day;
On the 24th the weather went from wild to wilder! I could hear the sea from my room and it was raining, it sounded like we were in the middle of a storm!
Sometimes people post pictures and looking at them takes you back. I've had a lot of things that took me back to the time when I lived in Zimbabwe and my church I went to there! Such good memories! I had such a great life in Zim and thank God I've built a life for myself here too.
This is my favourite skit EVER because it's such a beautiful message! I would love make one with friends one day! I always go back and watch all sorts of versions of it! It's soooo good!
I got very excited on Tuesday because I heard someone talking in the kitchen and they said it was going to rain for the next few days but on Tuesday in the morning we had SUN! It did rain later though, when I was doing my washing of course haha! I only worked in the morning on Tuesday and then was off work until Thursday. I had a great time catching up with friends on Skype and my friend and I had the night off together so we had a nice chilled evening.
On Wednesday, I got to sleep in!!! It had been a while since I had a morning to sleep in, I only have 1 day to sleep in a week usually. Although I'm not really a person who enjoys my sleep that much, I hardly sleep but after a certain amount of time it catches up with you and you need to get some zzzz....
I saw a squirrel at the University of Exeter when I was there!
Posting this picture reminded me of an even better picture I took while I was walking up to the high street when I had just arrived it Exeter!
It made me smile as I was walking up to the high street because it was randomly there! Someone said it looks like it's wearing Stilletos hahahaha and it does!
I usually have a song of the day which is a song I really like that stays in my mind throughout the day! I really love music!
This was my song of the day yesterday:
Well someone told me this video reminded them of me :P....
I like this quote a friend gave to me, "A friend is one who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love and encourages you with hope."
Today was departure day again. We finished work an hour later than usual. After lunch I went for a walk with a friend in the park and took this picture. You can see the beauty of the English Autumn.
And now to explain my blog title. Today they are putting up Christmas decorations all over the hotel! It looks really nice :) I have photos from last year too and I'll take some again this year! And tomorrow night we start our "Tinsel and Turkey" which is every Tuesday and Saturday night we have a Christmas dinner for the guests and we have to wear Christmas hats because not all our guests stay with us for Christmas and so every Tuesday and Saturday from now until Christmas we will be having "Christmas" for the guests. I may take a picture of me in my Christmas hat... maybe.
I've very excited for December as well as being the Christmas season and my favourite time of year there - a trip may be in the works too!
Oh yes and my book Learning by Karen Kingsbury finally arrived yesterday and I have the night off tonight so maybe I'll have a bit of a read later!
I shall love and leave you until I write again lol,
Nix
Wednesday 19 October 2011
It's not time to make a change...
Dear friends and family,
It's that time of the week again for another blog post! A blog is also my way of keeping a record of what I've been doing because when I get old and as we know our memories can fade a bit, I can look back and see what I did. I've kept diaries too and it's interesting to read them and have all those memories.
It's amazing it's coming to the end of the year already! I've been looking back a lot on this year and just recalling all sorts of memories but I suppose recalling the year and summing it up to what type of year it was is a post for my end of the year blog. For now I am enjoying what is left of this year and what can still happen ;)!
I saw something on facebook recently that showed your friends around the world. And mine are pretty spread out! I love that we have the technology these days to keep in touch :)! I think every friend you have bring something special to your life, I love my friends just for being themselves. I love the fact that everyone is different. I saw this quote today, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
On the 13th I decided to have a facebook free weekend! So I was actually off facebook from the 13-17th of October, only with the exception of going on because I needed something or needed to send a quick message.
I remember on one of the days last week I went running with a friend, then played tennnis and then went running again! Sometimes I don't know where my energy goes and sometimes I don't know where it comes from.
It was quite a busy weekend, we had a big departure on Sunday but I finished quickly and then I took the bus straight after work to go to a friends kitchen tea as she is getting married next week. It was nice, I enjoyed catching up with people, it had been a long time. I can't remember whether I've been to a kitchen tea before or not but she gets kitchen gifts and funny housekeeping advice. There was no tea lol but plenty of snacks and cool drinks.
On Saturday I went to Costa in Sidmouth with a couple of my friends. The Costa here is only a month or two old. For those of you that don't know Costa is similar to Starbucks. I actually really like Costa now and I go there more than Starbucks. There is no Starbucks in the town where I live but I used to go to the one in the city but now I find myself at Costa more often. They make great ice tea, streamers (hot milk with flavour) and all sorts! Costa rocks! And they have super comfortable couches in both places!
On Monday I can'r remember much of what I did although it was only 2 days ago lol but I do remember it was a good day!
On Tuesday I worked in the morning and then I had the evening off. I went walking up the other side of Sidmouth as the sun was going down and I took this picture.
It's such a breath taking area! Really I am amazed even though I have lived here for over a year now, it's still fresh and beautiful to me! Thank God that I have this opportunity to live in such a beautiful area!
This morning I was working for someone and then I had the evening off. The funniest thing that happened this week was when I was in my room after my shift today and the hotel fire alarm goes off and when I went out my room I found out that my friend had bumped in to one of the buttons accidentally and set off the fire alarm! Haha that's something I would do!
In fact it's been a humourous week all round! I love to laugh! I find so many things funny! You could say my sense of humour has a very wide range!
I was thinking today about how wonderful it is to have God in our lives. How He brings out the best in us. How He is always there for us. How He has an awesome plan for each of us.
I found this song today which I loved by Matthem West.
This quote from it is my quote of the week, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" Yes we can! With God in our lives, God at the the centre, God in control we can do everything according to His plan!
I suppose you're wondering where the title of my post comes from. Well actually it comes from this song:
It's such a brilliant song! It came to me the other day and these lyrics particularly stood out to me, "It's not time to make a change, just relax take it easy." Sometimes you feel God is trying to tell you something.
My previous blog posts were mainly about the topic of change because there are things I need to do that could lead to change. Although I feel now as I wrote above, it's not time to make a change, at least not this monrh, this month I am going to relax. And then the next 3 months I've got to get organised. My changes are to do with writing and travelling but I wont say more, I don't like to give things away too soon.
Thanks for reading my blog posts, I love that I can keep in touch with you and let you know what I'm up to! I love to write and writing this blog is such an awesome feeling!
I leave you with this, God loves you! If we put God at the centre everything else will fall in to place! And maybe you want to be somewhere but maybe where you are at the moment is where you're meant to be for now, you're at the right point in God's plan. Don't rush, just relax take it easy and enjoy the moments you have now. Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Be who you are, enjoy each moment and love the people around you!
Love you guys,
Nicola
It's that time of the week again for another blog post! A blog is also my way of keeping a record of what I've been doing because when I get old and as we know our memories can fade a bit, I can look back and see what I did. I've kept diaries too and it's interesting to read them and have all those memories.
It's amazing it's coming to the end of the year already! I've been looking back a lot on this year and just recalling all sorts of memories but I suppose recalling the year and summing it up to what type of year it was is a post for my end of the year blog. For now I am enjoying what is left of this year and what can still happen ;)!
I saw something on facebook recently that showed your friends around the world. And mine are pretty spread out! I love that we have the technology these days to keep in touch :)! I think every friend you have bring something special to your life, I love my friends just for being themselves. I love the fact that everyone is different. I saw this quote today, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
On the 13th I decided to have a facebook free weekend! So I was actually off facebook from the 13-17th of October, only with the exception of going on because I needed something or needed to send a quick message.
I remember on one of the days last week I went running with a friend, then played tennnis and then went running again! Sometimes I don't know where my energy goes and sometimes I don't know where it comes from.
It was quite a busy weekend, we had a big departure on Sunday but I finished quickly and then I took the bus straight after work to go to a friends kitchen tea as she is getting married next week. It was nice, I enjoyed catching up with people, it had been a long time. I can't remember whether I've been to a kitchen tea before or not but she gets kitchen gifts and funny housekeeping advice. There was no tea lol but plenty of snacks and cool drinks.
On Saturday I went to Costa in Sidmouth with a couple of my friends. The Costa here is only a month or two old. For those of you that don't know Costa is similar to Starbucks. I actually really like Costa now and I go there more than Starbucks. There is no Starbucks in the town where I live but I used to go to the one in the city but now I find myself at Costa more often. They make great ice tea, streamers (hot milk with flavour) and all sorts! Costa rocks! And they have super comfortable couches in both places!
On Monday I can'r remember much of what I did although it was only 2 days ago lol but I do remember it was a good day!
On Tuesday I worked in the morning and then I had the evening off. I went walking up the other side of Sidmouth as the sun was going down and I took this picture.
It's such a breath taking area! Really I am amazed even though I have lived here for over a year now, it's still fresh and beautiful to me! Thank God that I have this opportunity to live in such a beautiful area!
This morning I was working for someone and then I had the evening off. The funniest thing that happened this week was when I was in my room after my shift today and the hotel fire alarm goes off and when I went out my room I found out that my friend had bumped in to one of the buttons accidentally and set off the fire alarm! Haha that's something I would do!
In fact it's been a humourous week all round! I love to laugh! I find so many things funny! You could say my sense of humour has a very wide range!
I was thinking today about how wonderful it is to have God in our lives. How He brings out the best in us. How He is always there for us. How He has an awesome plan for each of us.
I found this song today which I loved by Matthem West.
This quote from it is my quote of the week, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" Yes we can! With God in our lives, God at the the centre, God in control we can do everything according to His plan!
I suppose you're wondering where the title of my post comes from. Well actually it comes from this song:
It's such a brilliant song! It came to me the other day and these lyrics particularly stood out to me, "It's not time to make a change, just relax take it easy." Sometimes you feel God is trying to tell you something.
My previous blog posts were mainly about the topic of change because there are things I need to do that could lead to change. Although I feel now as I wrote above, it's not time to make a change, at least not this monrh, this month I am going to relax. And then the next 3 months I've got to get organised. My changes are to do with writing and travelling but I wont say more, I don't like to give things away too soon.
Thanks for reading my blog posts, I love that I can keep in touch with you and let you know what I'm up to! I love to write and writing this blog is such an awesome feeling!
I leave you with this, God loves you! If we put God at the centre everything else will fall in to place! And maybe you want to be somewhere but maybe where you are at the moment is where you're meant to be for now, you're at the right point in God's plan. Don't rush, just relax take it easy and enjoy the moments you have now. Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Be who you are, enjoy each moment and love the people around you!
Love you guys,
Nicola
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Step by step in a new direction
Dear friends and family!
It's been my day off today and I thought I'd end it by updating my blog!
I left you last on Saturday the 8th where we had departure day. It also occured to me that I'd injured myself in all 4 places, my right arm (burnt with a hair curler), my left hand (burnt with an iron), my left foot (sores from running) and my right ankle (sore from an old injury) haha and I did all that in about a week! But I am used to it, it is typically me afterall!
I usually have a "song of the day" on facebook which is a song I like that day. And this was my song for Saturday. I love music, I'm always listening to music! I'm a music finatic although I don't sing or play an instrument, I have an appreciation for good music.
On Sunday it was funny because I was standing in a whole dining room waitressing by myself and the other waiters were in the other dining room because the hotel was quiet. So I said the dining room is now called "Nicola's restuarant".
On Monday we were all working in two's at dinner so someone said to me we're like Noah ark - it was so funny! There were 2 Slovaks, 2 Polish and 2 Africans. I came up with a song for it, "The waiters went in two by two. Hurrah! Hurrah!" Actually in the story of Noah ark (which I'm sure most of you know) it's two of the same animal and one was a male and one a female. Haha but it was the hotel's version of Noah's ark :P!
On Tuesday this was my song of the day which I got off friends at the hotel and it came on the radio that morning. It's Spanish and I really want to visit Spain some day. I usually post English songs so this was something different. I should actually look up some Greek music, there are some awesome Greek songs :)!
Tuesday night, last night actually wow, I wasn't so far behind with my news update. Last I went for a walk up the cliff. It was so peaceful sitting on a bench at the top of the cliff and watching as the sun went down. It also got cold very quickly haha. Bought pizza and had a nice chilled evening.
Today I woke up at 11:30am haha - it was the first time I had slept in like that in ages! I think being busy the past few weeks and not sleeping much caught up with me. I went walking on the high street and in the afternoon I went running with a friend through the beautiful park here. I am running quite a lot now and getting back in to my running which feels great :)! Afterwards I ate a chololate pancake with a friend, ok I know food updates are not the most exciting news but it's funny, I run and then I eat something which defeats the purpose of running haha! However actually I am running to get fit more than anything else. My job is also physical so it keeps me in shape.
The rest of the day I have been lazy, actually it's really nice being lazy. I don't have many lazy days and on my day off today I wanted to relax. I watched movies and facebooked and had a good rest. Sometimes as active as your life is, you need to take a time out.
Tomorrow I am back to work and working a bit more this coming week and working on my off day.
I also wanted to say that if you want to skype with me, let me know and we'll chat :)! I haven't been the best with skyping recently so it'll be nice to catch up with people :)!
My post title comes from spending my time in Sidmouth now. I have lived here for over a year and I haven't even seen a lot of it and I'm really loving this area I live in. I am amazed every day by it's beauty. My first few months of the year involved a lot of travelling and running around everywhere. These next few months are about slowing down and saving up. Like I said before, I have to get down to business lol! I have a lot to do and I have to make time to do it all.
If you want to catch up with me or send me your news or skype, I'm always available. Lol my friends tease me and say I am always contactable anywhere!
So anytime you need me, I'll be there, I'm a techonology geek!
Love you all and I hope things are going really well for you!
And I found this song tonight which is my song for the day.
Wherever we are in our lives, remember we're God's children. God loves us and wants what is best for us. And He has got an awesome plan for us! Who are we? We are God's, we are loved by Him and we are special. In a whole world of people there is no one like you. You are not replaceable.
I watched Stardust tonight and I loved this funny quote, "Where are the babylon candles?" "You used the last 200 years ago, don't you recall?"
But it also made me think; "You have a light to shine so let's all go out there in this world be a light, God wants us to shine."
God bless you,
Nicola Hill
It's been my day off today and I thought I'd end it by updating my blog!
I left you last on Saturday the 8th where we had departure day. It also occured to me that I'd injured myself in all 4 places, my right arm (burnt with a hair curler), my left hand (burnt with an iron), my left foot (sores from running) and my right ankle (sore from an old injury) haha and I did all that in about a week! But I am used to it, it is typically me afterall!
I usually have a "song of the day" on facebook which is a song I like that day. And this was my song for Saturday. I love music, I'm always listening to music! I'm a music finatic although I don't sing or play an instrument, I have an appreciation for good music.
On Sunday it was funny because I was standing in a whole dining room waitressing by myself and the other waiters were in the other dining room because the hotel was quiet. So I said the dining room is now called "Nicola's restuarant".
On Monday we were all working in two's at dinner so someone said to me we're like Noah ark - it was so funny! There were 2 Slovaks, 2 Polish and 2 Africans. I came up with a song for it, "The waiters went in two by two. Hurrah! Hurrah!" Actually in the story of Noah ark (which I'm sure most of you know) it's two of the same animal and one was a male and one a female. Haha but it was the hotel's version of Noah's ark :P!
On Tuesday this was my song of the day which I got off friends at the hotel and it came on the radio that morning. It's Spanish and I really want to visit Spain some day. I usually post English songs so this was something different. I should actually look up some Greek music, there are some awesome Greek songs :)!
Tuesday night, last night actually wow, I wasn't so far behind with my news update. Last I went for a walk up the cliff. It was so peaceful sitting on a bench at the top of the cliff and watching as the sun went down. It also got cold very quickly haha. Bought pizza and had a nice chilled evening.
Today I woke up at 11:30am haha - it was the first time I had slept in like that in ages! I think being busy the past few weeks and not sleeping much caught up with me. I went walking on the high street and in the afternoon I went running with a friend through the beautiful park here. I am running quite a lot now and getting back in to my running which feels great :)! Afterwards I ate a chololate pancake with a friend, ok I know food updates are not the most exciting news but it's funny, I run and then I eat something which defeats the purpose of running haha! However actually I am running to get fit more than anything else. My job is also physical so it keeps me in shape.
The rest of the day I have been lazy, actually it's really nice being lazy. I don't have many lazy days and on my day off today I wanted to relax. I watched movies and facebooked and had a good rest. Sometimes as active as your life is, you need to take a time out.
Tomorrow I am back to work and working a bit more this coming week and working on my off day.
I also wanted to say that if you want to skype with me, let me know and we'll chat :)! I haven't been the best with skyping recently so it'll be nice to catch up with people :)!
My post title comes from spending my time in Sidmouth now. I have lived here for over a year and I haven't even seen a lot of it and I'm really loving this area I live in. I am amazed every day by it's beauty. My first few months of the year involved a lot of travelling and running around everywhere. These next few months are about slowing down and saving up. Like I said before, I have to get down to business lol! I have a lot to do and I have to make time to do it all.
If you want to catch up with me or send me your news or skype, I'm always available. Lol my friends tease me and say I am always contactable anywhere!
So anytime you need me, I'll be there, I'm a techonology geek!
Love you all and I hope things are going really well for you!
And I found this song tonight which is my song for the day.
Wherever we are in our lives, remember we're God's children. God loves us and wants what is best for us. And He has got an awesome plan for us! Who are we? We are God's, we are loved by Him and we are special. In a whole world of people there is no one like you. You are not replaceable.
I watched Stardust tonight and I loved this funny quote, "Where are the babylon candles?" "You used the last 200 years ago, don't you recall?"
But it also made me think; "You have a light to shine so let's all go out there in this world be a light, God wants us to shine."
God bless you,
Nicola Hill
Friday 7 October 2011
Leaving!
Hi friends and family!
Continuing with the story of my life lol...
On the 30th of September I was working as a housekeeper and I did departure day. It was busy but went well. And in the evening I went out with my best friends in the hotel and we went for drinks at a pub and then to our local club. It was so much fun and lots of fun with photos haha! I had the evening off too and earlier I had got a kebab takeaway with chilli sauce and the chilli was so hot it felt like my mouth was on fire lol!
On Sat the 1st of October I only worked the breakfast and the evening shift and inbetween I went running and played tennis with a friend. It was the 1st time I had played tennis properly since 2008 I think. It was good to get back in to it! I only had four hours sleep and I did all that exercise and went for a walk on the sea front later with friends, I'm not sure where all my energy came from.
On Sun 2nd of October, I had the whole day off work, I went to church in the morning and in the afternoon I went back to Sidmouth and I hung out with my friends. I also saw a huge crane in the road in Exeter it was just right in the middle of the road as you walk up to the high street so I took a pic of it.
I have different songs for different times in my life and this was my theme song for the time coming.
On Sunday I was off work the whole day and then on Monday morning I only worked the breakfast until 10:30 am and then I was off until Wednesday because it was my half day :)! I went for a run after my breakfast shift, running feels great!
On Tuesday it was the last night us "trio" were together because one of my best friends in the hotel was leaving the next day. We had chinese food and watched movies in the evening because the three of us were off. Then on Wed she left to go back home :(. And on Thurs another of my friends left the hotel too :(. And on Sun another one of my friends is leaving the Uk :(. Really what have I done to make everyone leave? lol! It's sad when friends leave but I grateful for all my friends in my life and so happy there are great ways to keep in touch :D! I miss my friends who are not here with me and I am happy I have friends here too!
The Call was the song for the "leaving" theme now and this song I guess is one for it too. I can usually relate songs to times in my life because I love music :)!
On Wed I played tennis with a friend in the hotel. So good to be playing again! We're going to be professional soon ;) hey well one can dream!
Yesterday I went for a bit of a walk on the sea front with a friend and took some pictures but it was a very quick walk because the wind was so icy and we nearly froze haha! Since yesterday suddenly the temperatures have dropped! Hello English cold weather!
Today I was working in the morning and tomorrow is a busy day as it's departure day. I went for a run this afternoon with a friend and I feel so much better after a run. Exercise is so good for you and I am going to try keep up my running and tennis :)!
I am back as a housekeeper full time since Wed because I was doing waitressing for a while in the past month.
With that I shall love and leave you,
Until I write again haha,
Nicola
Continuing with the story of my life lol...
On the 30th of September I was working as a housekeeper and I did departure day. It was busy but went well. And in the evening I went out with my best friends in the hotel and we went for drinks at a pub and then to our local club. It was so much fun and lots of fun with photos haha! I had the evening off too and earlier I had got a kebab takeaway with chilli sauce and the chilli was so hot it felt like my mouth was on fire lol!
On Sat the 1st of October I only worked the breakfast and the evening shift and inbetween I went running and played tennis with a friend. It was the 1st time I had played tennis properly since 2008 I think. It was good to get back in to it! I only had four hours sleep and I did all that exercise and went for a walk on the sea front later with friends, I'm not sure where all my energy came from.
On Sun 2nd of October, I had the whole day off work, I went to church in the morning and in the afternoon I went back to Sidmouth and I hung out with my friends. I also saw a huge crane in the road in Exeter it was just right in the middle of the road as you walk up to the high street so I took a pic of it.
I have different songs for different times in my life and this was my theme song for the time coming.
On Sunday I was off work the whole day and then on Monday morning I only worked the breakfast until 10:30 am and then I was off until Wednesday because it was my half day :)! I went for a run after my breakfast shift, running feels great!
On Tuesday it was the last night us "trio" were together because one of my best friends in the hotel was leaving the next day. We had chinese food and watched movies in the evening because the three of us were off. Then on Wed she left to go back home :(. And on Thurs another of my friends left the hotel too :(. And on Sun another one of my friends is leaving the Uk :(. Really what have I done to make everyone leave? lol! It's sad when friends leave but I grateful for all my friends in my life and so happy there are great ways to keep in touch :D! I miss my friends who are not here with me and I am happy I have friends here too!
The Call was the song for the "leaving" theme now and this song I guess is one for it too. I can usually relate songs to times in my life because I love music :)!
On Wed I played tennis with a friend in the hotel. So good to be playing again! We're going to be professional soon ;) hey well one can dream!
Yesterday I went for a bit of a walk on the sea front with a friend and took some pictures but it was a very quick walk because the wind was so icy and we nearly froze haha! Since yesterday suddenly the temperatures have dropped! Hello English cold weather!
Today I was working in the morning and tomorrow is a busy day as it's departure day. I went for a run this afternoon with a friend and I feel so much better after a run. Exercise is so good for you and I am going to try keep up my running and tennis :)!
I am back as a housekeeper full time since Wed because I was doing waitressing for a while in the past month.
With that I shall love and leave you,
Until I write again haha,
Nicola
Thursday 29 September 2011
Change is in the air!
Dear Friends and family!
I'll start off this blog post with this song because it's so fitting for the time coming. I remember years ago this song was played over and over by all of us at Sailing School in Zimbabwe. I used to go for a week of windsurfing on Lake Chivero and you'd learn how to sail! It was so much fun! When sailing school ended it was a good thing coming to an end and now other things are coming to an end but there will also be good things starting.
I'll start off with my news.
On Thursday the 22nd of September I was working till 10:30am then one of my friends from Exeter came to see me in Sidmouth and we had great time exploring and chatting. In the late afternoon I got the bright idea to try and rearrange my room. This is something my sister usually did. In Zimbabwe my sister would rearrange her room almost every week because she got bored of the way it looked. Well one of my best friends at the hotel helped me arrange my room in the style it is now. Then I wanted to move my bed to the other side of the room. I moved the dressing table by my bed so I could move my bed there but when I went to move my bed I didn't realise it was going to weight millions of kg's haha! I felt like my arms were going to fall off. After a very tyring experience of edging my bed little by little to move it to the opposite wall, I decided it looked better the way it was and ended up moving everything back again! That was a work out and half haha! Seriously my bed weighs a ton, if you want to build your muscles, forget weights and come move my bed around haha!
On Friday the 23rd of September in the evening there was a carnival in Sidmouth and I went on a ride with some of my friends at the hotel. It was awesome! I had also been on that same ride last year! Once a year they bring rides to Sidmouth and have this awesome fun carnival! I've already posted the pics on my blog if you look at the post before this one. The pics were from Saturday night because it was the last night of the carnival and it was open longer so after work a whole lot of us went there and had so much fun on bumper cars and a spinning ride and the other main ride which gives you good butterflies! The Carnival was from Wed-Sat. We all had such a great time and on Sat I went for a drink with friends after the carnival to a pub and I drank mango juice lol.
Oh yes and also on Saturday the 24th I had a good run in the park. I love running with music! And it's such a beautiful run through the park! I pushed myself quite a bit on my run and when I came back and had showered I felt very good.
On Sunday the 25th I was working the whole day! I remember it being a really really busy day at work and that was probably why I was in a lot of back pain because I think I pushed myself a bit too hard. I had 3 busy shifts and I actually ended up running out the kitchen suddenly after my evening shift because I was in so much back pain and it suddenly was throbbing (well it was a back spasm I think). Although I got some good pain killers and since then my back has been fine so I think it was just because I had a busy day.
On Monday it was a good day and funny day! I like the people I work with, they can really make you laugh sometimes! I make a lot of people laugh all the time just by being me, I have a lot of "Nicola moments" haha and I'm really clumsy - I am just naturally the way I am.
On Tuesday went to Exeter and to a Moraccan restuarant with friends.
On Wednesday I went to a ladies coffee and cupcakes at the Uni of Exeter because I am in a student group there although I don't go there and I'm not a student lol but it was really nice and the cupcakes were gooood! After cupcakes I met up with one of my friends from the hotel and we went shopping and I bought lots of things! Yes I actually bought stuff which is amazing for me because I don't buy things often!
Today I went swimming with a friend in an indoor heated pool straight after work. We have an indoor heated pool just down the road. Later I had to go on the high street for a bit to run a few errands and it was such a beautiful day I took myself out for a walk on the sea front! I like walking and thinking while I am walking sometimes too and I have a lot to think about at the moment! Everyone says it's going in to winter now and then we have two of the hottest days lol!
Now back to the topic of change! Next week 3 of my best friends are all leaving the Uk :(. All in one week! Actually a lot of my friends have left the Uk this year :(. No one is going to be left lol - what did I do to make them leave? haha! It is hard when people leave, never mind 3 in a row, but at the same time I am happy for them and we have such great technology these days and ways of keeping in touch.
And I found the same type of church that I used to go to in Zim here. It was funny it had been there all along and I had walked past it lots of times because I had to walk past it on the way to one of my friends houses but I didn't notice what kind of church it was and so I think I may start going back to my orthodox church :). I also have to sort out my writing, I have plans for it but I have been so busy I haven't got around to it. I also have some other things I need to sort out by the end of the year. The next few months I have got to get down to business haha!
So change is definitely in the air and some of it will be hard and some could lead to really great things! I am not really a fan of change but I know God is always here with me and I'm interested to see what these changes bring the next few months!
And that's why I have the song! Good things are coming to an end! There are also always good things each and every day if you take the time to appreciate them and there are good things starting! And while some things have to end it doesn't mean it's over it's just ended for now.
All these changes also made me think about my mom and grandma and the times we used to have together and advice they gave me. When changes are happening in my life they would have been the first people I would tell. They were the kindest most loving women I ever knew and they both set such a good example for me! And they both had great faith! And although they are no longer here, in the time they were here they really touched so many lives and did so much for people. I love that I have two ladies like that to look up to! And I carry them forever in my heart!
With that I love and leave you,
Keep in touch,
Love Nicola
I'll start off this blog post with this song because it's so fitting for the time coming. I remember years ago this song was played over and over by all of us at Sailing School in Zimbabwe. I used to go for a week of windsurfing on Lake Chivero and you'd learn how to sail! It was so much fun! When sailing school ended it was a good thing coming to an end and now other things are coming to an end but there will also be good things starting.
I'll start off with my news.
On Thursday the 22nd of September I was working till 10:30am then one of my friends from Exeter came to see me in Sidmouth and we had great time exploring and chatting. In the late afternoon I got the bright idea to try and rearrange my room. This is something my sister usually did. In Zimbabwe my sister would rearrange her room almost every week because she got bored of the way it looked. Well one of my best friends at the hotel helped me arrange my room in the style it is now. Then I wanted to move my bed to the other side of the room. I moved the dressing table by my bed so I could move my bed there but when I went to move my bed I didn't realise it was going to weight millions of kg's haha! I felt like my arms were going to fall off. After a very tyring experience of edging my bed little by little to move it to the opposite wall, I decided it looked better the way it was and ended up moving everything back again! That was a work out and half haha! Seriously my bed weighs a ton, if you want to build your muscles, forget weights and come move my bed around haha!
On Friday the 23rd of September in the evening there was a carnival in Sidmouth and I went on a ride with some of my friends at the hotel. It was awesome! I had also been on that same ride last year! Once a year they bring rides to Sidmouth and have this awesome fun carnival! I've already posted the pics on my blog if you look at the post before this one. The pics were from Saturday night because it was the last night of the carnival and it was open longer so after work a whole lot of us went there and had so much fun on bumper cars and a spinning ride and the other main ride which gives you good butterflies! The Carnival was from Wed-Sat. We all had such a great time and on Sat I went for a drink with friends after the carnival to a pub and I drank mango juice lol.
Oh yes and also on Saturday the 24th I had a good run in the park. I love running with music! And it's such a beautiful run through the park! I pushed myself quite a bit on my run and when I came back and had showered I felt very good.
On Sunday the 25th I was working the whole day! I remember it being a really really busy day at work and that was probably why I was in a lot of back pain because I think I pushed myself a bit too hard. I had 3 busy shifts and I actually ended up running out the kitchen suddenly after my evening shift because I was in so much back pain and it suddenly was throbbing (well it was a back spasm I think). Although I got some good pain killers and since then my back has been fine so I think it was just because I had a busy day.
On Monday it was a good day and funny day! I like the people I work with, they can really make you laugh sometimes! I make a lot of people laugh all the time just by being me, I have a lot of "Nicola moments" haha and I'm really clumsy - I am just naturally the way I am.
On Tuesday went to Exeter and to a Moraccan restuarant with friends.
On Wednesday I went to a ladies coffee and cupcakes at the Uni of Exeter because I am in a student group there although I don't go there and I'm not a student lol but it was really nice and the cupcakes were gooood! After cupcakes I met up with one of my friends from the hotel and we went shopping and I bought lots of things! Yes I actually bought stuff which is amazing for me because I don't buy things often!
Today I went swimming with a friend in an indoor heated pool straight after work. We have an indoor heated pool just down the road. Later I had to go on the high street for a bit to run a few errands and it was such a beautiful day I took myself out for a walk on the sea front! I like walking and thinking while I am walking sometimes too and I have a lot to think about at the moment! Everyone says it's going in to winter now and then we have two of the hottest days lol!
Now back to the topic of change! Next week 3 of my best friends are all leaving the Uk :(. All in one week! Actually a lot of my friends have left the Uk this year :(. No one is going to be left lol - what did I do to make them leave? haha! It is hard when people leave, never mind 3 in a row, but at the same time I am happy for them and we have such great technology these days and ways of keeping in touch.
And I found the same type of church that I used to go to in Zim here. It was funny it had been there all along and I had walked past it lots of times because I had to walk past it on the way to one of my friends houses but I didn't notice what kind of church it was and so I think I may start going back to my orthodox church :). I also have to sort out my writing, I have plans for it but I have been so busy I haven't got around to it. I also have some other things I need to sort out by the end of the year. The next few months I have got to get down to business haha!
So change is definitely in the air and some of it will be hard and some could lead to really great things! I am not really a fan of change but I know God is always here with me and I'm interested to see what these changes bring the next few months!
And that's why I have the song! Good things are coming to an end! There are also always good things each and every day if you take the time to appreciate them and there are good things starting! And while some things have to end it doesn't mean it's over it's just ended for now.
All these changes also made me think about my mom and grandma and the times we used to have together and advice they gave me. When changes are happening in my life they would have been the first people I would tell. They were the kindest most loving women I ever knew and they both set such a good example for me! And they both had great faith! And although they are no longer here, in the time they were here they really touched so many lives and did so much for people. I love that I have two ladies like that to look up to! And I carry them forever in my heart!
With that I love and leave you,
Keep in touch,
Love Nicola
Thursday 22 September 2011
Continuing my life news in September
Dear Friends and Family,
I last left you with my news on the 8th of September, it has been a little while since my last post due to my busy lifestyle. Although being busy is great, I get bored when I have nothing to do which shows how I have changed over the years because before doing nothing or having a whole week doing nothing totally appealed to me.
I'll start with this song that I heard on the radio on the 8th and me being the music finatic that I am immediately found it on youtube and posted it on facebook. Here is a song to start my blog off ;) nothing like reading a blog with music :)! I do everything with music, I even used to study with music softly in the background.
On the 10th of September one of my friends at the hotel had his 30th Birthday Party and we had a party with all the staff in the staff room, it was lots of fun! Yes you don't even have to ask, there are always photos :) - gaget girl! Any gagets and internet are my thing from my camera to my blackberry to my ipod to my laptop! Some girls like shoes and clothes but me, I see a computer store or electronics store and I get excited haha! I have created a collage of some of the photos which I'll post up.
For the next few days it was back to waitressing. Then on the 12th I created my own website which I mentioned in my last blog post, it's just a free website where I will have my new writing blog. I have almost completed the 1st blog post for it too and I will post the link to my website with my first post once it's done. And my sister is designing the website for me as she's works in web so I'm sure as we work on it together it's going to be really cool! For now it's a basic website.
I was hardly on facebook since the 10th because I was busy and occupied doing all sorts then on the 13th I got online for a bit. Even now I don't find myself online as often, I've been walking and running and going out quite a bit with friends and the rest of the tine I have been working.
I went for a walk on the sea front at night after work with friends on the 13th and the moon was so lovely that night and reflecting off the sea. I took this picture but my camera on my blackberry isn't the best but it was breath taking to see.
On the 14th of September I went to Boundaries in dating at The River Church (my church) I go to in the evening. It was a talk on relationships and it was really interesting and parts of the talk were really funny too. I took some notes there and here are a few of my notes and bible verses from it to give you an idea.
The 5 love languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time3. Acts of Service (that is offering to help out), Tangible gifts5, Appropriate Physical Touch. Everyone has different ways of showing their love from one another. Some people like to give gifts and others like to give hugs, others say encouraging things. There is a book called the 5 love languages by Gary Chapmam, I haven't read it yet but apparently it's really good.
Here are some of the bible verses from Boundaries in Dating:
Amos verse 3: Can two walk together unless they are agreed?
Proverbs 27 verse 6: Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27 verse 9: Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
Romans 8 verse 1: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
A quote I loved from it is:
"Remember the most important decision you are going to make besides Jesus is who you are going to spend the rest of your life with."
Some other quotes:
Love gives at the expense of self, lust takes.
Your body is the temple of the holy spirit.
Sin pries in secrecy and darkness.
On the 15th it was my 1st day full day off in a while. I skyped with my aunt and a few friends. I hadn't been on skype in a while so I spent part of the day catching up with people. In the morning I walked on the high street around the shops and in Sidmouth we have people who sing on the street often and there was this lady singing so beautifully and it make me stop in my tracks to listen to her. I recorded it and posted it on facebook but I will put it on my youtube too so I can post it on my blog, it's just a short recording.
One of my friends at the hotel and I went for a walk up a cliff on the other side of Sidmouth. It's funny my friend knows more of Sidmouth than I do and she has been here a month and I've been here a year haha. I took pictures I will post a slideshow of the new areas of Sidmouth I have seen. Woah Sidmouth is so beautiful - it's just about the sea too there are forests and parks and flower gardens and all sorts.
On Friday the 16th it was another of my friends at the hotel's birthday and we went to a pub for drinks in the evening and later I went to Sidmouth's little nightclub with friends after. The next two days I was feeling very rough because I made the mistake of mixing drinks and I didn't have too much to drink but because I was mixing I really suffered from it, I even looked bad and I got some kind of red rash around my eyes I don't know where it came from. In fact I don't feel like drinking for a while, I hardly drink anyway, I used to have a drink here and there but now even the thought of it makes me feel sick. Although I still had a good weekend.
The next couple days or so at times I suddenly got very stressed and worried about things which hadn't happened to me in a while because I had been fine and actually all the emotions I was fealing inspired me to write my first blog post for my website which I will post once I have completed it properly.
On Monday I went for a lovely walk with friends in Sidmouth's park, I had never been there before but it's quite huge and extremely beautiful I have pictures on facebook and I'll post some here too.
On Tuesday I went for a run along the same path in the park I had walked with my friends. It was the most wonderful feeling to be running again and there were amazing views while I was running.
Yesterday, woop made it to yesterday! Yesterday I went to Exeter for a bit to help out with something and then came back to Sidmouth. And then I went with one of my friends from the hotel and one of my friends from Exeter and we watched Jane Eyre at the cinema it Exeter. It was awesome! What a great night all round, good company and good movie!
Today my friend from Exeter visited me and I gave her the tour of Sidmouth. Not a full tour because Sidmouth is bigger than I thought and there is more to see but we went and explored for a while and had a great time :) and yes there are photos which I will post later, I'll create a whole lot of collages!
And so my news has been updated for now! I have the night off work, I was actually working this morning but just the breakfast shift and tonight I've got to skype a few people and maybe watch a movie and just relax. I am also in the middle of doing my washing and I just realised I didn't check if it's finished so I better go rescue my washing! I am also sitting in my friends room because the internet my side of the hotel is down, we've had really bad internet recently.
I will leave you with my new church's video, because they created one for the new student church they are opening in Plymouth. It gives you an idea, it's more than "just church" we do a lot together. If you're ever in Exeter come to the River Church at 11am on Sundays, we would love to meet you!
Love you all, keep in touch,
Nicola
I last left you with my news on the 8th of September, it has been a little while since my last post due to my busy lifestyle. Although being busy is great, I get bored when I have nothing to do which shows how I have changed over the years because before doing nothing or having a whole week doing nothing totally appealed to me.
I'll start with this song that I heard on the radio on the 8th and me being the music finatic that I am immediately found it on youtube and posted it on facebook. Here is a song to start my blog off ;) nothing like reading a blog with music :)! I do everything with music, I even used to study with music softly in the background.
On the 10th of September one of my friends at the hotel had his 30th Birthday Party and we had a party with all the staff in the staff room, it was lots of fun! Yes you don't even have to ask, there are always photos :) - gaget girl! Any gagets and internet are my thing from my camera to my blackberry to my ipod to my laptop! Some girls like shoes and clothes but me, I see a computer store or electronics store and I get excited haha! I have created a collage of some of the photos which I'll post up.
For the next few days it was back to waitressing. Then on the 12th I created my own website which I mentioned in my last blog post, it's just a free website where I will have my new writing blog. I have almost completed the 1st blog post for it too and I will post the link to my website with my first post once it's done. And my sister is designing the website for me as she's works in web so I'm sure as we work on it together it's going to be really cool! For now it's a basic website.
I was hardly on facebook since the 10th because I was busy and occupied doing all sorts then on the 13th I got online for a bit. Even now I don't find myself online as often, I've been walking and running and going out quite a bit with friends and the rest of the tine I have been working.
I went for a walk on the sea front at night after work with friends on the 13th and the moon was so lovely that night and reflecting off the sea. I took this picture but my camera on my blackberry isn't the best but it was breath taking to see.
On the 14th of September I went to Boundaries in dating at The River Church (my church) I go to in the evening. It was a talk on relationships and it was really interesting and parts of the talk were really funny too. I took some notes there and here are a few of my notes and bible verses from it to give you an idea.
The 5 love languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time3. Acts of Service (that is offering to help out), Tangible gifts5, Appropriate Physical Touch. Everyone has different ways of showing their love from one another. Some people like to give gifts and others like to give hugs, others say encouraging things. There is a book called the 5 love languages by Gary Chapmam, I haven't read it yet but apparently it's really good.
Here are some of the bible verses from Boundaries in Dating:
Amos verse 3: Can two walk together unless they are agreed?
Proverbs 27 verse 6: Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27 verse 9: Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
Romans 8 verse 1: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
A quote I loved from it is:
"Remember the most important decision you are going to make besides Jesus is who you are going to spend the rest of your life with."
Some other quotes:
Love gives at the expense of self, lust takes.
Your body is the temple of the holy spirit.
Sin pries in secrecy and darkness.
On the 15th it was my 1st day full day off in a while. I skyped with my aunt and a few friends. I hadn't been on skype in a while so I spent part of the day catching up with people. In the morning I walked on the high street around the shops and in Sidmouth we have people who sing on the street often and there was this lady singing so beautifully and it make me stop in my tracks to listen to her. I recorded it and posted it on facebook but I will put it on my youtube too so I can post it on my blog, it's just a short recording.
One of my friends at the hotel and I went for a walk up a cliff on the other side of Sidmouth. It's funny my friend knows more of Sidmouth than I do and she has been here a month and I've been here a year haha. I took pictures I will post a slideshow of the new areas of Sidmouth I have seen. Woah Sidmouth is so beautiful - it's just about the sea too there are forests and parks and flower gardens and all sorts.
On Friday the 16th it was another of my friends at the hotel's birthday and we went to a pub for drinks in the evening and later I went to Sidmouth's little nightclub with friends after. The next two days I was feeling very rough because I made the mistake of mixing drinks and I didn't have too much to drink but because I was mixing I really suffered from it, I even looked bad and I got some kind of red rash around my eyes I don't know where it came from. In fact I don't feel like drinking for a while, I hardly drink anyway, I used to have a drink here and there but now even the thought of it makes me feel sick. Although I still had a good weekend.
The next couple days or so at times I suddenly got very stressed and worried about things which hadn't happened to me in a while because I had been fine and actually all the emotions I was fealing inspired me to write my first blog post for my website which I will post once I have completed it properly.
On Monday I went for a lovely walk with friends in Sidmouth's park, I had never been there before but it's quite huge and extremely beautiful I have pictures on facebook and I'll post some here too.
On Tuesday I went for a run along the same path in the park I had walked with my friends. It was the most wonderful feeling to be running again and there were amazing views while I was running.
Yesterday, woop made it to yesterday! Yesterday I went to Exeter for a bit to help out with something and then came back to Sidmouth. And then I went with one of my friends from the hotel and one of my friends from Exeter and we watched Jane Eyre at the cinema it Exeter. It was awesome! What a great night all round, good company and good movie!
Today my friend from Exeter visited me and I gave her the tour of Sidmouth. Not a full tour because Sidmouth is bigger than I thought and there is more to see but we went and explored for a while and had a great time :) and yes there are photos which I will post later, I'll create a whole lot of collages!
And so my news has been updated for now! I have the night off work, I was actually working this morning but just the breakfast shift and tonight I've got to skype a few people and maybe watch a movie and just relax. I am also in the middle of doing my washing and I just realised I didn't check if it's finished so I better go rescue my washing! I am also sitting in my friends room because the internet my side of the hotel is down, we've had really bad internet recently.
I will leave you with my new church's video, because they created one for the new student church they are opening in Plymouth. It gives you an idea, it's more than "just church" we do a lot together. If you're ever in Exeter come to the River Church at 11am on Sundays, we would love to meet you!
Love you all, keep in touch,
Nicola
Thursday 8 September 2011
Nicola the Caver and the Waitress
Dear Friends and Family
Another exciting blog post awaits you! I decided to be particularly enthusiastic about my blog today, how am I doing? Anyway moving on to the rest of my news. After this post I shall be up to date with my news!
I arrived back at the hotel on Friday the 2nd of September. I also forgot to mention on the 1st of September one of my best friends got engaged. In fact engagements seem to be happening a lot lately. I remember thinking in high school that one day we're all going to be grown up and married and now a lot of people around my age are getting engaged and married. How time flies. I will be next. Don't be surprised if my relationship status suddenly changes. Actually not next anytime soon, maybe in a few years or more or even more than that. I am in no hurry, when it happens it happens.
I slept straight until 10am on Saturday the 3rd - yes that is particularly exciting news for me because I have not slept in properly in months. I'm a bit of an insomniac. I always wake up early no matter what time I go to bed and if I'm still tired when I wake up and not working I go back to sleep but it's interrupted sleep and doesn't leave me feeling refreshed so on Saturday I had such a good nights sleep. I must have been tired after my travels and holiday.
Once I woke up I got ready to go caving with a friend of mine who was leaving the next day back to Poland. I took the bus to Exmouth and from there my friend and I went with our instructor and his friend to the caves. You see the caves in England are just known as "the caves". Ok honestly they obviously do have a name but I can't remember what caves we went to were called, just that they were on the way to Plymouth. Once we arrived there our instructor gave us gear, I had to wear a helmet with a battery around my waist for the helmet light and overalls. Yes I do have pictures of me in my attractive cave outfit.
Here is one before we headed underground, that's me in the middle because you might not recognise me in my new uniform.
We got instructions on how to turn on our lights and what to do so we don't get lost or hurt ourselves in the caves. It was in a very beautiful area with big hills and lovely and green everywhere. Before we walked up we had to stand on the bridge in our gear and wave at the passing traffic below and after 3 cars waved back we could head up and the 1st 3 cars waved so we were on our way. We passed apple trees which we were told are used for making cider. We were also given a lot of mints which I assume was to prevent bad breath as we would all be in close proximity inside the caves so it should be kept a pleasant atmosphere.
Once we had climbed the hill, gone through the apple tree garden and up a slight slope in some woods we stood at the base of a cliff where there was a hole and that was the hole we would enter in to the caves. I looked at the little hole thinking it's going to get off to an interesting start already and one by one we all rolled sideways in to the caves.
The first tast was climbing a small slope in the caves. Already you could feel how much cooler it was inside. Our only lights were our helmet lights but they were enough. Inside the caves it was a lot of climbing and sliding and rolling. There were narrow pathways and there were lots of puddles and mud. It also looked quite pretty inside, well parts of it looked really nice. We stopped a few times and got told about the caves and the fact that we were metres underground and to think about all that rock above us. It was quite fun on some parts where you had to climb up by hooking your foot in between the rocks and other parts were we had to slide down a bit and hook our foot on a rock to stop us sliding all the way. I quite enjoying climbing and sliding along, it was great adventure.
Here are some pictures of us inside the caves:
Near the end we stopped and our instuctor had us all turn off our lights. Then he told us to close our eyes and open them. And it was not different - it was pitch black. As we sat in the dark he told us this part was the part people enjoyed the most about caving. Sitting in dark in complete silence and peace. It was so relaxing, I really enjoying just sitting there in the dark in absolute peace. Before going in the caves we were told to listen to the outside noises and in the caves it would be silent and it was. Except for when we heard another group talking and wondering through the caves. We listened to them for a while and later on we bumped in to them (not literally) as we were heading out. I was the first one out because my intructor let me go on ahead, I was so eager and excited to try anything with caving. Oh yes and in the cave I had painted myself and some people had painted my face in mud and I'd also stepping in a few puddles so as I was heading out the cave I am sure I must have slightly resembled the swamp monster who was covered in mud (my godfather used to tell us about the swamp monster in his stories).
Once I climbed out if felt quite bright and I waited for the other 3 to come out. It had been a great experience, I was glad I'd done it. As we walked back we were told that it would feel very hot outside as we had just spent an hour in a cave. And it did feeling much warmer on the surface. We walked throught he apple garden and my friend Anna and I were given different cider apples to taste. There were 3 different kinds I think, bitter apples, sweet apples, and sharp apples which were kind of a mixture. The first one I tasted was bitter and some of the bitter ones were very bitter but I made myself swallow to say I'd tried it. The sharp apples were very nice. Each different type of apple was used to make different types of cider. It was awesome tasting all the different apples. Not only did I have a caving lesson but a cider lesson too.
We walked back to the car and before we went to the river to wash the mud off we posed for the after caving picture.
We washed ourself off in the river and I took my overall off there too (don't worry I had clothes underneath) and I washed those too. It had been an awesome day. When we got back to Exmouth I said goodbye to my friend and took the bus back to Sidmouth. As soon as I got back I hopped in the shower to properly wash all the mud off me. I also had a relatively early night because I felt quite tired after everything and I was started work again the next morning.
On Sunday the 4th of September my alarm went off and I was up and getting ready for my 1st day of work after my holiday. It was funny I was starting work again on the 4th of September because it was on the 4th of September 2010 that I had started at the hotel so it was my 1 year anniversary here. And I was doing waitressing (I am usually a housekeeper) and when I started here I had started off as a waitress too. The morning breakfast went well, it wasn't as busy as I remember it and after the breakfast I had a 2 hour shift cleaning our cafe because the hotel owns a cafe too on the side of the hotel. In the evening it was back to my normal waitressing in the dining room. I felt really happy to be back at work and see everyone.
The next few days consisted of breakfast in the morning then a 2 hour housekeeping shift where I was helping the girls upstairs with departures day and then the dining room in the evening, and the next morning was breakfast then a 2 hour kitchen shift preparing bacon, potatoes and onions for the evening and my usual dining room. I enjoyed some of the guests this week who joked in dining room and one evening asked for extravagent desserts that weren't even on the menu, they made me laugh quite a few times. And then they said that something wasn't on the menu and I told I was sure it was but when they showed me the menu they deliberately put their finger over it haha.
Yesterday, Wednesday, wow I made it to Wednesday. It was my half day so I only worked the breakfast in the morning and I was off. I spent the rest of the morning sorting out and doing my washing. In the afternoon I created my own website which I will be sharing later or can go to http://nicolathewriter.weebly.com./ - I'm still working on it but it will have my new writing blog on there soon. In the evening my friend and I had a Japanese movie night in the staff room. We watched a Japanese movie - I'm not sure what it was called, they all have subtitles because I don't speak Japanese by the way. It was really good, there was great humour, it was thrilling, there was a great twist, all in all it was the making of an awesome movie! I certainly will be watching more Japanese movies! They're brilliant!
This morning I just worked the breakfast shift until 10:30am and now I'm off again until tomorrow. I am a waitress for a couple weeks or so and then I go back to housekeeping. However tomorrow I am doing housekeeping for departure day which is the busiest day for housekeepers so I will be a very busy bee tomorrow. I spent some of today visiting a friend, watching tv, and now writing this enormous blog post to get all my news up to date.
It's really good to be back at the hotel and seeing the staff. I like my on the go life between work and a social life. Today though is my relaxation day where I will be relaxing most of the afternoon, maybe watch a dvd or something or work on my new website a bit.
And to finish off yesterday I found this really awesome song that was used in a tv show I watch. It's such a nice love song. Funny I found a love song yesterday when they were having an evening at my church last night talking about dating.
And a sign I saw in the hotel made me smile:
To end properly now with a quote from the tv series Smallville that I really liked,
"We are all confronted with trials son, but the true measure of a man is how he chooses to react in the face of those trials." ~Jonathan Kent, Smallville
There you have it, my news, boom! If you want to know what I am getting up to in the Uk you can go through my blog posts. It's my way of keeping in touch with most people with my news as I've said my life is very on the go and I don't always have time to type emails and things so I keep a blog to show you I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth and because I love to write and I love sharing my life with people.
I am excited about my new blog which will be on my website, I haven't started it yet but I will. If you also have tumblr or twitter the links to mine are on the right hand side at the top of this blog. I also have a youtube channel. I think if you ask me what I don't have online that will be a shorter list haha.
Until next time,
I shall love and leave you,
Love always,
Nicola (aka the Caver and Waitress lol)
Another exciting blog post awaits you! I decided to be particularly enthusiastic about my blog today, how am I doing? Anyway moving on to the rest of my news. After this post I shall be up to date with my news!
I arrived back at the hotel on Friday the 2nd of September. I also forgot to mention on the 1st of September one of my best friends got engaged. In fact engagements seem to be happening a lot lately. I remember thinking in high school that one day we're all going to be grown up and married and now a lot of people around my age are getting engaged and married. How time flies. I will be next. Don't be surprised if my relationship status suddenly changes. Actually not next anytime soon, maybe in a few years or more or even more than that. I am in no hurry, when it happens it happens.
I slept straight until 10am on Saturday the 3rd - yes that is particularly exciting news for me because I have not slept in properly in months. I'm a bit of an insomniac. I always wake up early no matter what time I go to bed and if I'm still tired when I wake up and not working I go back to sleep but it's interrupted sleep and doesn't leave me feeling refreshed so on Saturday I had such a good nights sleep. I must have been tired after my travels and holiday.
Once I woke up I got ready to go caving with a friend of mine who was leaving the next day back to Poland. I took the bus to Exmouth and from there my friend and I went with our instructor and his friend to the caves. You see the caves in England are just known as "the caves". Ok honestly they obviously do have a name but I can't remember what caves we went to were called, just that they were on the way to Plymouth. Once we arrived there our instructor gave us gear, I had to wear a helmet with a battery around my waist for the helmet light and overalls. Yes I do have pictures of me in my attractive cave outfit.
Here is one before we headed underground, that's me in the middle because you might not recognise me in my new uniform.
We got instructions on how to turn on our lights and what to do so we don't get lost or hurt ourselves in the caves. It was in a very beautiful area with big hills and lovely and green everywhere. Before we walked up we had to stand on the bridge in our gear and wave at the passing traffic below and after 3 cars waved back we could head up and the 1st 3 cars waved so we were on our way. We passed apple trees which we were told are used for making cider. We were also given a lot of mints which I assume was to prevent bad breath as we would all be in close proximity inside the caves so it should be kept a pleasant atmosphere.
Once we had climbed the hill, gone through the apple tree garden and up a slight slope in some woods we stood at the base of a cliff where there was a hole and that was the hole we would enter in to the caves. I looked at the little hole thinking it's going to get off to an interesting start already and one by one we all rolled sideways in to the caves.
The first tast was climbing a small slope in the caves. Already you could feel how much cooler it was inside. Our only lights were our helmet lights but they were enough. Inside the caves it was a lot of climbing and sliding and rolling. There were narrow pathways and there were lots of puddles and mud. It also looked quite pretty inside, well parts of it looked really nice. We stopped a few times and got told about the caves and the fact that we were metres underground and to think about all that rock above us. It was quite fun on some parts where you had to climb up by hooking your foot in between the rocks and other parts were we had to slide down a bit and hook our foot on a rock to stop us sliding all the way. I quite enjoying climbing and sliding along, it was great adventure.
Here are some pictures of us inside the caves:
Near the end we stopped and our instuctor had us all turn off our lights. Then he told us to close our eyes and open them. And it was not different - it was pitch black. As we sat in the dark he told us this part was the part people enjoyed the most about caving. Sitting in dark in complete silence and peace. It was so relaxing, I really enjoying just sitting there in the dark in absolute peace. Before going in the caves we were told to listen to the outside noises and in the caves it would be silent and it was. Except for when we heard another group talking and wondering through the caves. We listened to them for a while and later on we bumped in to them (not literally) as we were heading out. I was the first one out because my intructor let me go on ahead, I was so eager and excited to try anything with caving. Oh yes and in the cave I had painted myself and some people had painted my face in mud and I'd also stepping in a few puddles so as I was heading out the cave I am sure I must have slightly resembled the swamp monster who was covered in mud (my godfather used to tell us about the swamp monster in his stories).
Once I climbed out if felt quite bright and I waited for the other 3 to come out. It had been a great experience, I was glad I'd done it. As we walked back we were told that it would feel very hot outside as we had just spent an hour in a cave. And it did feeling much warmer on the surface. We walked throught he apple garden and my friend Anna and I were given different cider apples to taste. There were 3 different kinds I think, bitter apples, sweet apples, and sharp apples which were kind of a mixture. The first one I tasted was bitter and some of the bitter ones were very bitter but I made myself swallow to say I'd tried it. The sharp apples were very nice. Each different type of apple was used to make different types of cider. It was awesome tasting all the different apples. Not only did I have a caving lesson but a cider lesson too.
We walked back to the car and before we went to the river to wash the mud off we posed for the after caving picture.
We washed ourself off in the river and I took my overall off there too (don't worry I had clothes underneath) and I washed those too. It had been an awesome day. When we got back to Exmouth I said goodbye to my friend and took the bus back to Sidmouth. As soon as I got back I hopped in the shower to properly wash all the mud off me. I also had a relatively early night because I felt quite tired after everything and I was started work again the next morning.
On Sunday the 4th of September my alarm went off and I was up and getting ready for my 1st day of work after my holiday. It was funny I was starting work again on the 4th of September because it was on the 4th of September 2010 that I had started at the hotel so it was my 1 year anniversary here. And I was doing waitressing (I am usually a housekeeper) and when I started here I had started off as a waitress too. The morning breakfast went well, it wasn't as busy as I remember it and after the breakfast I had a 2 hour shift cleaning our cafe because the hotel owns a cafe too on the side of the hotel. In the evening it was back to my normal waitressing in the dining room. I felt really happy to be back at work and see everyone.
The next few days consisted of breakfast in the morning then a 2 hour housekeeping shift where I was helping the girls upstairs with departures day and then the dining room in the evening, and the next morning was breakfast then a 2 hour kitchen shift preparing bacon, potatoes and onions for the evening and my usual dining room. I enjoyed some of the guests this week who joked in dining room and one evening asked for extravagent desserts that weren't even on the menu, they made me laugh quite a few times. And then they said that something wasn't on the menu and I told I was sure it was but when they showed me the menu they deliberately put their finger over it haha.
Yesterday, Wednesday, wow I made it to Wednesday. It was my half day so I only worked the breakfast in the morning and I was off. I spent the rest of the morning sorting out and doing my washing. In the afternoon I created my own website which I will be sharing later or can go to http://nicolathewriter.weebly.com./ - I'm still working on it but it will have my new writing blog on there soon. In the evening my friend and I had a Japanese movie night in the staff room. We watched a Japanese movie - I'm not sure what it was called, they all have subtitles because I don't speak Japanese by the way. It was really good, there was great humour, it was thrilling, there was a great twist, all in all it was the making of an awesome movie! I certainly will be watching more Japanese movies! They're brilliant!
This morning I just worked the breakfast shift until 10:30am and now I'm off again until tomorrow. I am a waitress for a couple weeks or so and then I go back to housekeeping. However tomorrow I am doing housekeeping for departure day which is the busiest day for housekeepers so I will be a very busy bee tomorrow. I spent some of today visiting a friend, watching tv, and now writing this enormous blog post to get all my news up to date.
It's really good to be back at the hotel and seeing the staff. I like my on the go life between work and a social life. Today though is my relaxation day where I will be relaxing most of the afternoon, maybe watch a dvd or something or work on my new website a bit.
And to finish off yesterday I found this really awesome song that was used in a tv show I watch. It's such a nice love song. Funny I found a love song yesterday when they were having an evening at my church last night talking about dating.
And a sign I saw in the hotel made me smile:
To end properly now with a quote from the tv series Smallville that I really liked,
"We are all confronted with trials son, but the true measure of a man is how he chooses to react in the face of those trials." ~Jonathan Kent, Smallville
There you have it, my news, boom! If you want to know what I am getting up to in the Uk you can go through my blog posts. It's my way of keeping in touch with most people with my news as I've said my life is very on the go and I don't always have time to type emails and things so I keep a blog to show you I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth and because I love to write and I love sharing my life with people.
I am excited about my new blog which will be on my website, I haven't started it yet but I will. If you also have tumblr or twitter the links to mine are on the right hand side at the top of this blog. I also have a youtube channel. I think if you ask me what I don't have online that will be a shorter list haha.
Until next time,
I shall love and leave you,
Love always,
Nicola (aka the Caver and Waitress lol)
Monday 5 September 2011
My holiday continued in Exeter!
Dear Friends and Family,
The last place I left you was on the 26th when I was taking a bus to my next destination. I was going to be out of Devon for 2 weeks but I hadn't seen some friends here in ages and I hadn't been to church in a while so I decided to go back earlier. I stayed with a friend in Exeter for the last week of my holiday from the 26th of August to the 2nd of September.
I arrived on Friday night (26th August) in Exeter, an hour and a half later than I was supposed to and it had been raining. The buses were very delayed due to accidents on the road and because it was a bank holiday. I even switched buses to a different company altogether to get me to Exeter because it was a little out of my bus driver's way but he was going to take me there anyway as I had missed the Exeter bus due to delays and he made a plan with another driver to get me there. I was very tired after about a 7-8 hour journey on buses around the Uk. I headed to my church as soon as I'd arrived and they'd just remodelled it which was great to see how it looked now and later I went to my friends house. I ordered my 1st online delivery in the Uk and I was so excited that I had ordered a takeaway online, yes I get excited about everything lol.
On Saturday I went out with friends to a Makro - I didn't even know there was one in the Uk. And we went shopping. And we emptied recycling bottles which was an experience lol, let's just say we washed our hands well after that.
Sunday it was church! I was so happy that I decided to come back and go to church, I'd missed it quite a lot It was a great service as always and it was so nice seeing everyone again. A lot of us went for lunch after. Later I went to a friends house and a few of us watched a movie which froze lol. It had been a good day and I was looking forward to my week in Exeter.
I spent part of the week relaxing, which was really good. I hadn't rested like that in ages because I'm very on the go most of the time. I caught up my online blogs while I was away. I still need to start my new blog, I've created it but I haven't posting anything yet, although I have lots of ideas for it! I love writing, it's my passion, it's totally my thing!
I love quotes and I found this one which I liked, it made me think of my mom and who she was; "Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love."
On the 30th I had an explosion! It's a figure so speech! It just hit me that it was the week where I needed to start thinking about how I am going to get some things organised. I know exactly what I need to do it's just a case of getting it done. I'm sure you've probably noticed I'm not big on just revealing things because I could say a lot of things but only when it's something to reveal I will reveal it. Maybe that makes no sense but to me it does. We all have our dreams and plans for our lives. And we all have an awesome God who guides in the right direction towards His awesome plan for our lives. I can't say my life turned out how I expected because it didn't, a lot of the things I wanted didn't work out but with everything that has happened my life has actually turned out a whole lot better than I expected. Thank God for that.
As you go through life you find yourself not always going on the path you expected but the path you are going on is so incredible you have to pinch yourself because everything keeps getting better. That's what happened to me. I am so thankful for all the people in my life and my job and some opportunities I've had. It's not that I have the best life or the easiest but it's how you look at your life and what you make of it that counts. And I'm trying to make the most of mine :)!
I wrote a post on my writing blog called "Dreams" inspired by all the plans and things we want to do with our lives. Whatever you want to do even if you're not sure, it'll come to you all in good time.
On Wednesday the 31st of August I went for lunch with my friend and her family and I walked around Exeter a bit with friends. I had such a great day!
On Thurday I met up with a couple friends in Exeter for coffee and chatting. I love just sitting and chatting. It's so nice to just sit and talk about all sorts of things. I ended up going for dinner with a friend and the family she was aupairing for at a really good restuarant that I'd always wanted to go to. Oh yes and I spent a lot of Thursday morning building Manhattan. Yes I am not joking you read that right. I should probably also mention the fact that it was a computer game. I saw it a store and I couldn't resist. Most of the time if I'm wondering around shops of my choice, I'd go to all the gadget shops - computer stores, cellphone, games, anything of that sort! I love technology! I'm a techno-geek!
On Friday the 2nd, I met up with a friends and enjoyed going a pub in Exeter. I also walked around Exeter taking photos and marvelling at what a beautiful city it is. I go to Exeter often because I don't live that far away but I never really stopped to just look and Friday was my last day in Exeter so I thought I'd spend some time appreciating its beauty. I have an album on facebook for the pics I took. I intend to take many more whenever I visit and have time.
I took the bus back to the hotel in the evening. It had been a wonderful week of seeing friends in Exeter. And it had been a wonderful week before seeing friends up North in the Uk. All in all it was a fantastic holiday.
I also felt so happy when I arrived back at the hotel, I'd missed it too. It was a good feeling when I walked in to my room, good to be home and I had a good time away. And I had something planned for the next day which I got invited too and I'd never been before because I had Saturday off work and was only starting work on Sunday the 4th.
However it's almost midnight as I'm sitting here, and I will continue later on.
I shall love and leave you with this news for now,
Thanks for reading my blog,
Love
Nicola
The last place I left you was on the 26th when I was taking a bus to my next destination. I was going to be out of Devon for 2 weeks but I hadn't seen some friends here in ages and I hadn't been to church in a while so I decided to go back earlier. I stayed with a friend in Exeter for the last week of my holiday from the 26th of August to the 2nd of September.
I arrived on Friday night (26th August) in Exeter, an hour and a half later than I was supposed to and it had been raining. The buses were very delayed due to accidents on the road and because it was a bank holiday. I even switched buses to a different company altogether to get me to Exeter because it was a little out of my bus driver's way but he was going to take me there anyway as I had missed the Exeter bus due to delays and he made a plan with another driver to get me there. I was very tired after about a 7-8 hour journey on buses around the Uk. I headed to my church as soon as I'd arrived and they'd just remodelled it which was great to see how it looked now and later I went to my friends house. I ordered my 1st online delivery in the Uk and I was so excited that I had ordered a takeaway online, yes I get excited about everything lol.
On Saturday I went out with friends to a Makro - I didn't even know there was one in the Uk. And we went shopping. And we emptied recycling bottles which was an experience lol, let's just say we washed our hands well after that.
Sunday it was church! I was so happy that I decided to come back and go to church, I'd missed it quite a lot It was a great service as always and it was so nice seeing everyone again. A lot of us went for lunch after. Later I went to a friends house and a few of us watched a movie which froze lol. It had been a good day and I was looking forward to my week in Exeter.
I spent part of the week relaxing, which was really good. I hadn't rested like that in ages because I'm very on the go most of the time. I caught up my online blogs while I was away. I still need to start my new blog, I've created it but I haven't posting anything yet, although I have lots of ideas for it! I love writing, it's my passion, it's totally my thing!
I love quotes and I found this one which I liked, it made me think of my mom and who she was; "Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love."
On the 30th I had an explosion! It's a figure so speech! It just hit me that it was the week where I needed to start thinking about how I am going to get some things organised. I know exactly what I need to do it's just a case of getting it done. I'm sure you've probably noticed I'm not big on just revealing things because I could say a lot of things but only when it's something to reveal I will reveal it. Maybe that makes no sense but to me it does. We all have our dreams and plans for our lives. And we all have an awesome God who guides in the right direction towards His awesome plan for our lives. I can't say my life turned out how I expected because it didn't, a lot of the things I wanted didn't work out but with everything that has happened my life has actually turned out a whole lot better than I expected. Thank God for that.
As you go through life you find yourself not always going on the path you expected but the path you are going on is so incredible you have to pinch yourself because everything keeps getting better. That's what happened to me. I am so thankful for all the people in my life and my job and some opportunities I've had. It's not that I have the best life or the easiest but it's how you look at your life and what you make of it that counts. And I'm trying to make the most of mine :)!
I wrote a post on my writing blog called "Dreams" inspired by all the plans and things we want to do with our lives. Whatever you want to do even if you're not sure, it'll come to you all in good time.
On Wednesday the 31st of August I went for lunch with my friend and her family and I walked around Exeter a bit with friends. I had such a great day!
On Thurday I met up with a couple friends in Exeter for coffee and chatting. I love just sitting and chatting. It's so nice to just sit and talk about all sorts of things. I ended up going for dinner with a friend and the family she was aupairing for at a really good restuarant that I'd always wanted to go to. Oh yes and I spent a lot of Thursday morning building Manhattan. Yes I am not joking you read that right. I should probably also mention the fact that it was a computer game. I saw it a store and I couldn't resist. Most of the time if I'm wondering around shops of my choice, I'd go to all the gadget shops - computer stores, cellphone, games, anything of that sort! I love technology! I'm a techno-geek!
On Friday the 2nd, I met up with a friends and enjoyed going a pub in Exeter. I also walked around Exeter taking photos and marvelling at what a beautiful city it is. I go to Exeter often because I don't live that far away but I never really stopped to just look and Friday was my last day in Exeter so I thought I'd spend some time appreciating its beauty. I have an album on facebook for the pics I took. I intend to take many more whenever I visit and have time.
I took the bus back to the hotel in the evening. It had been a wonderful week of seeing friends in Exeter. And it had been a wonderful week before seeing friends up North in the Uk. All in all it was a fantastic holiday.
I also felt so happy when I arrived back at the hotel, I'd missed it too. It was a good feeling when I walked in to my room, good to be home and I had a good time away. And I had something planned for the next day which I got invited too and I'd never been before because I had Saturday off work and was only starting work on Sunday the 4th.
However it's almost midnight as I'm sitting here, and I will continue later on.
I shall love and leave you with this news for now,
Thanks for reading my blog,
Love
Nicola
Monday 29 August 2011
My friends 21st birthday and a lovely holiday with my other family
Dear Friends and Family,
Yes it's that time again for another news update :)! I love keeping a blog because I love writing and I suppose one day if my memory fades I can go back and read my blogs and see everything lol. It's just nice to have memories.
On the 13th of August I was working my normal shift and getting excited because it was only 4 days to go until my holiday. On the 14th of August I watched the Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan, I have the dvd. It's one of my favourite childhood movies. I remember when I watched it as a kid and taped it I kept watching it over and over for weeks after that and I even brought my dvd with me from South Africa when I moved here. It's legend if you haven't seen it.
I absolutely love music and this is another amazing song I found by Carrie Underwood.
Did you know that in Tokyo they fill up the trains to the max and literally pack people like sardines in to a train, the conductors even push the people so the doors will close. I watched a program that talked about it and showed them pushing people. Here is a video on youtube that shows it. LOL I am glad this isn't practiced in the Uk.
I found this quote which I love:
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. ~ St. Augustine
I love travelling and there is so much to see in the world and experience. It really broadens your horizons when you travel and you get to meet different people and experience different cultures. There is so much to see and a whole world out there to explore. I have lived in 4 different countries and lived in so many different areas. I've also done quite a bit of travelling this year to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland, London, other parts of the Uk. And I have got so many travelling plans in the works. If you haven't traveled, it's so worth saving up for it. The things I love most about travelling is meeting new people or visiting friends and family in other countries and seeing the lovely sights there. Traveling to a new place is one of the most wonderful experiences you can have.
On the 16th of August it was officially one day until my travels and I finished the last of my packing! Yeah!
On the 17th in the morning I got ready and then took the bus to Exeter where I had a full breakfast, great having a full breakfast before a long journey and from there at about 11am I had a 7 and a half hour journey to my friends up North. The buses are really relaxed and chilled, I really prefer them to the trains so I wasn't worried about the journey. However we got stuck in major traffic and I had to catch another bus in Birmingham so I was a little worried I wouldn't make my second bus on time. Although I really enjoyed the journey and made a new friend and we chatted all the way and I even made my 2nd bus on time so it all worked out great. I got to my friends bus station on time and he came to pick me up with his friend. Then I went home and saw all his family for the 1st time in a year.
My sister also sent me a picture of her cat's kitten which is the cutest thing so here it is on my blog - it just has to go on my blog hehe! My sister said she would post him/her to me - I haven't got anything in the mail yet though.
Oh yes on my journey as well I also updated my facebook places and tagged myself at random places along the way that I wasn't even at. My favourite was the Bullring in Birmingham where I said I was being chased (by bulls), however I don't even know what the Bullring is maybe it's just a shopping centre haha. So yes the journey was fun lol.
The first night I was at Dan's - Dan , Josh and I were already taking photos and having lots of fun. There is a page on facebook that says "Sometimes I lie on the kitchen floor and pretend to be a crumb" so we took pictures of us lying on the floor pretending to be crumbs hahahaha. Because you know it's just something everybody does, I am sure everyone has been a crumb at some time in their life hmmm..... I should hope not lol!
On the 18th of August was Dan's 21st birthday. In the morning we all gave him our prezies and took pictures. I got him a mop. You know because I am a housekeeper and I know mops can be very useful. Haha actually I got him other things and a big 21st badge just in case anyone wonders how old he is. Dan, Josh and I went and watched Cowboys VS Aliens at the movies on his birthday.
He got a Wii (pronounced wee) for his birthday (the game) and so we all played on the Wii. His 21st status should have been "I'm playing with my Wii" haha!
We took lots of photos on his birthday which are already on facebook.
I found these bible verses about friendship on the 19th. I was thinking about how much I love all my friends and how each of them have something special about them that I like. I really love my friends.
These are the bibles verses I found and I found the perfect video dedicated to all my friends.
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ~Proverbs 17:17.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. ~Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. ~Proverbs 27:17
I took a break off facebook on the 20th because it was Dan's 21st birthday braai (barbeque) and I wanted to spend it with everyone. His friends and family came over for the braai. We took loads of photos. And he had 21 helium balloons from his mom and so we all sang songs and things with helium, it was hilarious! It was such a lovely braai and day! Here are a few pics from it.
On Sunday we had a nice chilled day at the house.
On Monday the 22nd of August I went Tenpin bowling with Dan and Josh :)! It was the first time I had been bowling in the Uk. It was loads of fun and I came 2nd. I was very good at bowling *cough* I was actually lucky they had things on the sides so the bowling ball couldn't go in the gutter because the gutter would have been the favoured place for my bowling ball haha. It was awesome we also played some of the arcade games too. I tried to win a smurf but couldn't lol. Dan played a game where you punch a punching bag to get a top score and on his first go he beat the top score lol!
Here are some pics.
In case you are wondering I didn't eat all this lol, we got a platter to share.
On the 23rd we had a relaxed day. I also started playing all sorts of facebook games, I actually spent most of the day playing facebook games. It was so fun being unproductive I hadn't had an unproductive day in a long time. I have all the facebook games but I hadn't played them in a while. Which reminds me I was supposed to collect my crops in farmville and get my food off the stove in cafe world - and it's now the 29th of August - so I will getting some withered crops and burnt food LOL.
On the 24th I went to Newcastle Under Lyme with Dan's mom Trish and his sister Leigh-Amy and her kids. Her little boy is only 6 months, he's the sweetist thing and I've nicknamed him ET because of his name (from the movie ET) lol. We did some shopping and they left me there to do some shopping and went home. Dan and Josh came later and Josh and I waited around while Dan had a 3 hour haircut. I thought girls haircuts took long haha!
On the 25th I finally watched Tangled which I had been wanting to watch for ages! It was an amazing movie. Here is a song from it.
Here is another song I found which I loved. Which reminded me of parents and how they must wish their kids stayed young.
On the 26th it was time for the next part of my holiday. Dan and Josh drove me to the bus station. I had had a lovely time with them all! It was so good to see everyone again!
There were major traffic because of accidents as I took the bus back and the bus driver even made a plan for me to get on another type of bus that was even nicer to get to my destination but I eventually did get to my destination one and a half hours later than I was supposed to arrive lol! It was about an 7 hour journey all together.
I will write more about where my journey continues later - for now I shall love and leave you with this news.
I hope you are all having a wonderful time, I have been having an incredible holiday with amazing people!
Love to you all,
Nix
Yes it's that time again for another news update :)! I love keeping a blog because I love writing and I suppose one day if my memory fades I can go back and read my blogs and see everything lol. It's just nice to have memories.
On the 13th of August I was working my normal shift and getting excited because it was only 4 days to go until my holiday. On the 14th of August I watched the Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan, I have the dvd. It's one of my favourite childhood movies. I remember when I watched it as a kid and taped it I kept watching it over and over for weeks after that and I even brought my dvd with me from South Africa when I moved here. It's legend if you haven't seen it.
I absolutely love music and this is another amazing song I found by Carrie Underwood.
Did you know that in Tokyo they fill up the trains to the max and literally pack people like sardines in to a train, the conductors even push the people so the doors will close. I watched a program that talked about it and showed them pushing people. Here is a video on youtube that shows it. LOL I am glad this isn't practiced in the Uk.
I found this quote which I love:
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. ~ St. Augustine
I love travelling and there is so much to see in the world and experience. It really broadens your horizons when you travel and you get to meet different people and experience different cultures. There is so much to see and a whole world out there to explore. I have lived in 4 different countries and lived in so many different areas. I've also done quite a bit of travelling this year to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland, London, other parts of the Uk. And I have got so many travelling plans in the works. If you haven't traveled, it's so worth saving up for it. The things I love most about travelling is meeting new people or visiting friends and family in other countries and seeing the lovely sights there. Traveling to a new place is one of the most wonderful experiences you can have.
On the 16th of August it was officially one day until my travels and I finished the last of my packing! Yeah!
On the 17th in the morning I got ready and then took the bus to Exeter where I had a full breakfast, great having a full breakfast before a long journey and from there at about 11am I had a 7 and a half hour journey to my friends up North. The buses are really relaxed and chilled, I really prefer them to the trains so I wasn't worried about the journey. However we got stuck in major traffic and I had to catch another bus in Birmingham so I was a little worried I wouldn't make my second bus on time. Although I really enjoyed the journey and made a new friend and we chatted all the way and I even made my 2nd bus on time so it all worked out great. I got to my friends bus station on time and he came to pick me up with his friend. Then I went home and saw all his family for the 1st time in a year.
My sister also sent me a picture of her cat's kitten which is the cutest thing so here it is on my blog - it just has to go on my blog hehe! My sister said she would post him/her to me - I haven't got anything in the mail yet though.
Oh yes on my journey as well I also updated my facebook places and tagged myself at random places along the way that I wasn't even at. My favourite was the Bullring in Birmingham where I said I was being chased (by bulls), however I don't even know what the Bullring is maybe it's just a shopping centre haha. So yes the journey was fun lol.
The first night I was at Dan's - Dan , Josh and I were already taking photos and having lots of fun. There is a page on facebook that says "Sometimes I lie on the kitchen floor and pretend to be a crumb" so we took pictures of us lying on the floor pretending to be crumbs hahahaha. Because you know it's just something everybody does, I am sure everyone has been a crumb at some time in their life hmmm..... I should hope not lol!
On the 18th of August was Dan's 21st birthday. In the morning we all gave him our prezies and took pictures. I got him a mop. You know because I am a housekeeper and I know mops can be very useful. Haha actually I got him other things and a big 21st badge just in case anyone wonders how old he is. Dan, Josh and I went and watched Cowboys VS Aliens at the movies on his birthday.
He got a Wii (pronounced wee) for his birthday (the game) and so we all played on the Wii. His 21st status should have been "I'm playing with my Wii" haha!
We took lots of photos on his birthday which are already on facebook.
I found these bible verses about friendship on the 19th. I was thinking about how much I love all my friends and how each of them have something special about them that I like. I really love my friends.
These are the bibles verses I found and I found the perfect video dedicated to all my friends.
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ~Proverbs 17:17.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. ~Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. ~Proverbs 27:17
I took a break off facebook on the 20th because it was Dan's 21st birthday braai (barbeque) and I wanted to spend it with everyone. His friends and family came over for the braai. We took loads of photos. And he had 21 helium balloons from his mom and so we all sang songs and things with helium, it was hilarious! It was such a lovely braai and day! Here are a few pics from it.
On Sunday we had a nice chilled day at the house.
On Monday the 22nd of August I went Tenpin bowling with Dan and Josh :)! It was the first time I had been bowling in the Uk. It was loads of fun and I came 2nd. I was very good at bowling *cough* I was actually lucky they had things on the sides so the bowling ball couldn't go in the gutter because the gutter would have been the favoured place for my bowling ball haha. It was awesome we also played some of the arcade games too. I tried to win a smurf but couldn't lol. Dan played a game where you punch a punching bag to get a top score and on his first go he beat the top score lol!
Here are some pics.
In case you are wondering I didn't eat all this lol, we got a platter to share.
On the 23rd we had a relaxed day. I also started playing all sorts of facebook games, I actually spent most of the day playing facebook games. It was so fun being unproductive I hadn't had an unproductive day in a long time. I have all the facebook games but I hadn't played them in a while. Which reminds me I was supposed to collect my crops in farmville and get my food off the stove in cafe world - and it's now the 29th of August - so I will getting some withered crops and burnt food LOL.
On the 24th I went to Newcastle Under Lyme with Dan's mom Trish and his sister Leigh-Amy and her kids. Her little boy is only 6 months, he's the sweetist thing and I've nicknamed him ET because of his name (from the movie ET) lol. We did some shopping and they left me there to do some shopping and went home. Dan and Josh came later and Josh and I waited around while Dan had a 3 hour haircut. I thought girls haircuts took long haha!
On the 25th I finally watched Tangled which I had been wanting to watch for ages! It was an amazing movie. Here is a song from it.
Here is another song I found which I loved. Which reminded me of parents and how they must wish their kids stayed young.
On the 26th it was time for the next part of my holiday. Dan and Josh drove me to the bus station. I had had a lovely time with them all! It was so good to see everyone again!
There were major traffic because of accidents as I took the bus back and the bus driver even made a plan for me to get on another type of bus that was even nicer to get to my destination but I eventually did get to my destination one and a half hours later than I was supposed to arrive lol! It was about an 7 hour journey all together.
I will write more about where my journey continues later - for now I shall love and leave you with this news.
I hope you are all having a wonderful time, I have been having an incredible holiday with amazing people!
Love to you all,
Nix
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