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
Thursday 29 September 2011
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
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