O Holy Night.

Merry Christmas (a little late!) I hope that everyone had a wonderful time, ate too much and smiled all day!

My day was just lovely. Every year on Christmas Eve we attend a Church Carol service at our local Church. I have to admit that it has hardly changed since I was little but it is still a joy to go to it! When we were younger, my sister, brother and I would usually be taking part in the service in some way. There are different readings and performances inbetween the different carols. It is lovely to see the different kids that participate now and see how the little kiddies that I used to watch in Sunday School have grown! It was beautiful. I always get emotional during the service because I always reflect on why we are here, and why we are celebrating.

After this my brother and I came back with our mum and spent the evening with her. Lucy came later on, she went out for a few drinks with her friend. I have to say here that it has been a joy having Fin home for Christmas. I love that boy and I love seeing how he is growing up and changing. He is a blessing. We were all sick on Christmas Eve, with colds. It was not nice. I was up late wrapping presents, making yummy truffles and cheesecake for Christmas day. So I was exhausted. I slept SO good. Could of slept all day. I woke up at 8:45am and all was still quiet in the house. I don't remember a Christmas when I have been able to sleep that late. Usually I have a sister or brother in my room whispering to see if I am awake, or doing what they need to wake me up! So I just lay there for a while enjoying the moment where I could wake up on my own. It didn't last long. Soon someone was in the bathroom, I heard the toilet flush and it was like this was an alarm telling everyone it was time to get up. I heard one door open, then another and Christmas greetings being passed around! I knew that I would be next. I didn't do a very good job of being my cheery self. I had a horrible head-ache and stuffy nose.

I finally made it to the living room where everyone was VERY excited to see what gifts they had received. I wrapped myself in a blanket and was ready to fall asleep again. But that's what little brothers are for, to wake you up even when you are not ready to! So he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. Great. Just what I was wanting to happen. And just so you know, I am about 6ft tall and my brother is 6ft 4or5 so you imagine how ridiculous this looked. I do find it very impressive when he manages to pick me up but doesn't mean I appreicate it!

I love watching everyone open the gifts I bought for them months ago and hoped that they would love! It was successful. I will share more about my gifts in another post.

We had a yummy breakfast of cinammon scrolls! They are a favourite for all of us! Suddenly we didn't really have a lot of time and we were all running around getting ready and deciding what to wear, well that was more me...I had no idea what I was going to wear! I got there in the end though. I blame this on feeling really ill and not wanting to get out of bed in the first place!

We then headed down to my Dad's house. It was crazy to be going from one place to another, and leaving mum behind...but that is something new that I am still getting used to. Lucy and I were cooking Christmas dinner. It was delicious. Seriously. We had a fun day. Our Granny and Aunty joined us and that was precious. I love spending time with them but don't do it often enough.

Right. Onto why I'm not sharing photos in this post. My laptop is doing something funky. I have this horrible green tinge on my screen and it is driving me nuts! When I look at photos there is like this green tinge throughout the photo. Best way to describe it is that it looks like someone has gone over my screen with a green pencil and rendered it in! So when I am editing photos I really can't tell what they look like and don't want to bore you with terrible photos. I have lots of photos to share from Christmas day from the people and prezzies to the meal. I will try and post these soon. I will probably just use my mum's laptop.

I am going to leave you with a Carol that I have been listening lots this CHRISTmas time. The version I have been listening to it by Natalie Grant. She has a really beautiful Christmas album. I should of directed you to it before Christmas. Sorry. The song is a Medley of Silver Bells, Saviour Came for Me and O Holy Night. I really touches me.

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Love came down at Christmas.

Christmas is almost here. I love this time of year, a lot. 2 months ago I helped put up the decorations at work and everyone became aware of how much I love this time of year. They told me that I would definitely be sick of Christmas by December. I am pleased to inform you that I am still full of Christmas cheer!

Last week I finished my Christmas shopping. I so enjoy buying gifts for people. Taking time to really think about what I am going to get someone, then walking into a store and then seeing something that is perfect and completely different to what you had in mind. I have also been making gifts this year. Last year I made my sister a scarf. I enjoyed being creative and giving someone special to me something that has my stamp on it, that reflects me. You will have to wait until after Christmas so see some of the gifts that I have made this year as there may be eyes reading this that will be receiving one of those gifts!

Another love of this season is wrapping Christmas presents! I could quite happily spend all day wrapping presents, seriously. But I hate clearing up all the mess afterwards. So if there is someone out there who loves to clear up mess but hates wrapping presents, I think we could form a great friendship! Unfortunately I have already wrapped all my presents, this makes me sad. No more present wrapping for me, unless I can wrap some with my mum and sister?

Mum and I put up the Christmas tree a few weeks ago now. It looks so pretty and sparkly. But we kinda threw it up late one night and forgot about the rest of the decorations. So over this week we have been finishing off the decorations throughout the house. It looks beautiful. I am ready to enjoy this week of festivities now!

The most important thing I love about this season is the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus Christ. I tend to get very emotional at this time of year as I think about our Saviour being born. Such a beautiful thing. It is very easy to get caught up in everything about this time of year. I always make sure that I stop to take time to be thankful for the precious baby that was born. The Greatest gift.

Today I enjoyed putting decorations up and making Christmas truffles! I had some beautiful Christmas carols playing in the background too. I was listening to Natalie Grant's Christmas album, Believe. I am going to leave you with some lyrics from one of her songs. This is my prayer tonight.

"I believe

The Wiseman saw

The baby born the angels called the son of God Heaven’s child

The great I am Born to take away my sins through nailed pierced hands

Emmanuel has come"

Let it Snow...

I am very pleased to tell you that we have even more SNOW! It is so beautiful. It is so magical. It is so soft. It is so Christmassy! It makes me want to wrap up warm, light the fire, bake something, light my Christmas candles and watch Christmas movies! So that is exactly what I did...when I finished work!

Here are a few photos that I took tonight, while it was snowing! I did a little snow dance, all wrapped up, because I was so happy. But when I went out to take photos I only put on my hat and my wellies and just wore the t-shirt and leggings I had on. Silly girl. All cosy now though, with my hot water bottle!

The Never-ending List...

About a month ago I made this cute "To Do List" sign. I actually made it out of a card I got from a friend for my Birthday this year. I love it!

So, since I have made this cute sign I am always adding more and more things to this list. The sad thing is that rarely does anything get crossed off it, but the list just keeps growing and growing. Until today that is. I managed to cross off a few things from my list, a few e-mails, letters sent, birthday present mailed and Christmas presents bought! I also did a bunch of laundry, tidying and cooked a lovely dinner tonight aswell. Feeling very pleased with myself too. I also changed my room around, well really just moved my bed. But I like it. :)

Also, I have something to confess. Today I was listening to Christmas music. I just couldn't help myself. Yesterday when I was shopping ALL the shops had Christmas music on. I was jealous that the people that worked there got to listen to this music all day and think that it is perfectly acceptable to start listening now. It's only a month before Christmas, and this is the only time of year that I get to listen to this wonderful music! I think you should start now too, you know YOU want to?

Blessings.

Last week I wasn't really feeling myself. Last year I have envisaged that I would be in California now. Well, I am still here. I absolutely take comfort in knowing that the LORD is in control of the situation, and I wouldn't want it any other way. But because I had put my own timescale on it I managed to get my hopes up. I have definitely learnt over this past year that more often than not my timescale and plan is different to what the LORD has planned.

Anyway...back to this post. SO while I was feeling a bit down, and a bit distant from God, I got to speak to my dear friends. Oh my goodness, they are a joy to me! Not only could I speak to them about everything that is going on with me, and I could hear everything that is going on with them! They always have such encouraging, kind words that comfort me. They pray for me and I greatly appreciate this. They build me up in my faith and challenge me. Just now, I don't really have many friends around me that challenge me in this way or really encourage me in my faith. So I am thankful for Skype, as it really breaks down the distance between me and my friends.

Meet my lovely friend, Karen (a.k.a. Boo.) You have met her before on here. She is my little ray of sunshine. She can make me smile on any day, no matter how bad it is going. See this face below, this is what I see (plus many more faces) everytime that we talk on Skype. She is hilarious. Not only is she funny, but she is also so wise and I learn so much from her. I really miss being able to laugh in the same room as this lady. I am very thankful that the LORD has brought her into my life, He definitely knew what He was doing with this friendship. I love you, Boo!

I didn't have a photo from Skype for these two! So I used this one, that I took in 2008. I love this one. When I spoke to this lovely couple last week they listening to every moan I had and then gave me some wonderful, encouraging words. I really miss having conversations with them and having their advice on hand. I learnt so much from that and I'm so thankful that the LORD crossed our paths back in 2003. I love them dearly.

So, there's an insight into a couple of my many blessings!

Psalm 63:1-5 ♥

Curly.

My beautiful, baby brother left for his Navy training yesterday! Excuse me, but when did he grow up and how did I miss it? I honestly can't believe it.

A few days before he left we had a "date night". We went to the movies to see Due Date. I knew that it was going to be good because Fin had gone the night before and loved it! He was very happy to go and see it again. There were a lot of people in the cinema watching the movie. I got a little bit annoyed though. It seemed like there were hundreds of people that were all there together and I think they thought they were on their sofa watching it at home. Every couple of minutes they would turn around and talk to the person 2 rows behind them!! I didn't notice this too much because I was far too busy laughing at the movie. Seriously, if you haven't seen this yet then you should definitely go! I am probably going to see it again.

I do have a few knew bruises after our date though. Aparantly I have an annoying laugh when we are at the cinema, so my sister and brother kindly told me. So, whenever I laughed during the movie he would elbow me in the arm! Lovely. I must have been because it was really funny! Anyway, I had a lovely time with Fin.

Before we left I told him that he needed to get changed into something smarter. And this is what he came down in! He always makes me laugh!!

Fin is such a funny, caring, loving, thoughtful guy and I will miss him. I love you, Curly.

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10 NLT

Tired.

Today was my day off and it went by sooo fast! I had a lovely day though. I had lunch with friends and their new baby boy (remember the baby shower a few weeks ago? Well he finally arrived last weekend!) He is beautiful, and BIG. He slept the whole 4 hours we were out, so I am going to visit him tomorrow and see if he will give me a cuddle and a cute smile. Babies bring me so much joy.

So tired just now and have to sleep. I have a long day at work tomorrow! Look out for a post on my "date" with my baby brother!

Smile.

I love my sister and brother! When we are together we are either laughing, arguing, smiling, annoying each other, crying or dancing. This photo below makes me smile. They are such a blessing to me. I love you, Sassy and Fin!

♥

Hello November.

Can you believe that it is November already? I mean, really? I can't. 2010 is nearly over. Yikes. I had different ideas about how my year would map out but my God had other plans. So I am trusting that the Lord's plan is way better than mine. In fact, His is perfect! Jeremiah 29:11

I thought I would let you all in on something that I try desperately to hide. Below is a lovely outfit that I have to wear to work a couple of times a week. It has to be worn on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) every week. From now until New Year we have Mistletoe and Mountain tours so every week consists of... Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Hogmanay! Right now I am absolutely loving it. But I can see that in a few weeks, after many "Christmas Days" I will not be full of Christmas cheer. I had a GREAT time decorating the Hotel last week with all the many Christmas decorations and listening to Christmas music. I always want to start listening to my Christmas songs early, so this is perfect for me!

Pretty nice dress I have there, don't you think? I have to admit that at the start of this year, when we had to wear this outfit for our Ceilidh night, I thought it was hideous. Well, I still think it is horrible (you should have seen the colour of the under-dress thing when I got it!) For some reason, this time round, I am actually enjoying wearing it. I'm not sure if you can see from this photo or not but I am wearing beautiful flower that was handmade by some lovely people in Aberfeldy. These lovely flowers were made to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness and CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) These are charities that are very close to two wonderful families in our town. They organised a charity night last weekend. It was a HUGE success! I will post more on that next week. I hope you like ABBA?

Also, keep your eyes peeled for another attractive photo of myself in my Christmas outfit! Get excited!!

Just the 2 of us.

Just a quick post. Yesterday I spent the day with my baby brother, my 17 year old baby brother! I love him. He is hilarious, annoying, sweet, thoughtful and TALL! It was fun just hanging out with him for the day. Below are a couple of snaps that we got.

We had lunch and he ordered SO much food! Needless to say, he was very full for the rest of the day!

I am wearing a shirt/dress thing that I got about a month ago. I love it BUT the other day I saw an old lady wearing the same dress and have to admit that I thought to myself "AHHHHHH!" but now I am like..hey, whatever! She must be a pretty trendy, little lady!! :)

Will try and post something more interesting soon. Crazy busy at work. Maybe I will post photos of the many different outfits that I have to wear there. Not 100% sure if I want to share it with the world yet though!

Recent photos.

I thought I would post some recent photos. Ever since I have said that I would take some photos of how beautiful it is looking just now in the lovely sunshine..the lovely sunshine disappeared! Of course. So I am still working on some good photos of our beautiful countryside but I did snap these ones on a drive today.

I actually love that is is blurry at the bottom of this photo because it blends all those colours together. I LOVE the photos below because all the colours are all mixed through. I think it's pretty cool. :)

Yes, it is that time already. All my cosy hats are out in full force. This one below is a new one though. I love it. Also in this photo you will see a jacket that my lovely friend gave to me when I left America. I wear it all the time, and think of her everytime I wear it. Love you, boo.

My American mom gave me this jar of mixed herbs when I left America. She had used these many, delicious meals that she cooked for me while I was there so I was already in love with them. But this week I cooke a yummy meal using these herbs with salmon. SO tasty. SO easy.

Looks pretty yummy, right? You should definitely try and get your hands on BRAGG organic sprinkle; 24 herbs and spices seasoning. Yummmm...

I have been doing lots of baking this week. We had a lovely baby shower and the cakes below were made for that occasion. I had a bit of a disaster with the red food colouring though. I was trying to make a deep red, but it turned out BRIGHT PINK. Luckily they still tasty yummy. I had all different colours over my hands from the different colours I used for the icings!

The other icings were very mellow in comparison.

The other night, when I got home from work at 10pm, I had a craving for muffins. So I made some. I have a really simple, delicious recipe for muffins that aren't too sweet and and perfect, really. I got it from my Aunty Trish. I might share it on here soon. Also, check out my lovely case that I got from my American mom. (My American family are too good to me!!) I have so many beautiful cupcake cases now that I want to bake all the time!

And that's all I've got just now. I will try and get some better photos outside this week. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with me.

Cold Feet.

Literally.

It is getting so so cold just now. This morning I started work at 6am so I was up at 5am. Not cool. It was dark and cold outside, and this tells me that I still need to be all cosy in bed. The worst part about it was that I woke up wide awake at 4.30am, thinking that I had slept in. Silly girl. Work was surprisingly good fun. Usually when we start this early we don't really say too much to each other and just get about our work. But today we were all in good form, so tired but enjoying each other's company. I am very thankful that I work with people that make me laugh and smile everyday.

When I got home from work I could hardly keep my eyes open. So I went to bed for a wee nap. (If I start work this early then I always feel that I can justify going back to bed for a bit!) But this was not happening today. I set my alarm for an hour and a half, I don't like to sleep for too long. So basically I lay in bed for nearly 2 hours, freezing and didn't sleep a wink. I got out of bed feeling horrible, head ache and even more tired. Great. But this was fine. I did a few things round the house. I found out that we would be starting work at 7pm tonight so I thought I could squuueeze in a wee nap, again! This time my feet were cold, actually freezing. So this didn't work either. This time I felt like crying. I was so tired and still had another long shift ahead of me. But whatever. My nap was just not meant to be right now.

It is now 12:37am and what am I doing? On here NOT SLEEPING! I am off tomorrow so I'm not really too worried about it. I am also trying to speak with my dear friend in California, on Skype. Her son is in Hospital and has been for the past 2 weeks. Please say a little prayer for her, and her little boy and family. I wish that I was over there now to be with them.

I am struggling to keep my little eyes open. Bed time I think. :)

Nothing better than a wet bed?

Today went too quickly. It was my day off so I slept in, til 8:30am. This felt like houuuuurs for me. I read for a little bit then my mum and I got ready to hit up Perth. We had a slow start. We did it a bit differently today. Instead of heading down the High Street we looked in all the small, cute shops and found lots of little treasures. Christmas presents, baby shower presents (she's having a boy btw!) cards, ribbon....lovely things! It was a successful day.

I will fill in more tomorrow. But right now I am tucked up in bed, with no smile on my face. I had a great plan of filling my hot water bottle and putting it in my bed so it would be lovely and cosy when I got in it. Fail. There was a cheeky, wee hole in my hot water bottle and so instead of a cosy bed, I had a wet bed. And we all know that there is nothing better than a wet bed to climb into at night? So I am not very impressed right now. I am sure I will get over it. Probably when my alarm is going off at 6:00am tomorrow!!

Snap Happy.

It seriously looks so beautiful just now! I went for a drive today and the sun was shining and the leaves are golden. Pretty breathtaking. Tomorrow I am going to try and get out to take some photos before it all fades away. Last year I remember thinking how wonderful this season is and loved walking to work all wrapped up and drinking in the Autumn colours. Then we had a crazy, wild, windy couple of days and there were no shining golds anymore. The worst part was I had been telling myself to take photos for weeks and I missed it. So I don't want to miss it again this year.

A lovely girl I work with is expecting a baby. It was completely a shock. Somehow there are only 3 weeks to go, so we are having a baby shower on Wednesday. It should be a fun day of friends, baking, games and laughs. I will take photos. Tomorrow I will be baking away in the kitchen. Say a little prayer for Jenny and her wee baby boy who will be with us soon!

Hopefully I will have all sorts of photos for you next time I blog. :)

Making memories.

At the start of this week my sister and I took at couple of days off to spend some time together, but also to spend time with our dear Granny. We are Gray's, so of course the day did not go as we plan. We planned to leave at 8:30am, it was probably 9:30am before we actually left. This is something that happened on EVERY trip that we took when we were younger. We had a slight detour to pick up a spare tyre, this turned into another detour as we had to go to Perth to get it fitted onto the wheel. This was actually pretty entertaining as it took 5 men to put this tyre onto the wheel. Now I am not going to pretend that I know anything about putting a tyre onto a wheel but after they told my sister and I that we would probably want to get out of the car and wait in reception because the "bang" might scare us, I was a bit scared. So we went to wait into reception and watched them beat up our little tyre. We had no clue what they were doing but we were more worried about the fire that was coming out of the tyre! After a little bit one of the 5 guys came to explain to us what they were doing.

After all of this we finally got on the road to Glasgow, at 11:15am. It was a really beautiful day, the sun was shining. We then got a call from Dad saying that he was on the same road as us and that he wanted to, and I quote, look at the tyre. We didn't really get this part. Why would anyone want to look at a tyre? To me, every tyre looks the same. But I am glad that someone appreciates the fine art of...tyres. After we let Dad get his tyre fix for the day we were on the road again.

We had lunch with Granny, which was lovely. It is so nice to spend time with her. I don't do it enough and she just loves seeing us. I have a lot of wonderful memories of summers spent with her in her house. I love to look through old photos with her everytime I go there. It is nice to laugh at old photos of young parents, and young grandparents!

Then Lucy and I hit the shops. It was lovely to go shopping with my sister with no real agenda other than to look around the shops and see what bargains we could find. We couldn't actually remember the last time we went shopping together. The weather was lovely for shopping, sun shining with a little breeze. We didn't last very long though, only 4 hours. Our last 20 mins were actually hilarious. Lucy needed a pair of jeans, so off we went on a mission. We were very tired and not really prepared properly for our mission. But, we did leave with a pair of jeans!!

After this we were done. We went back to our Granny's with our purchases, sore feet, yawns and laughs. She had a lovely meal prepared for us and was also planning the night's activities. The activity we wanted to do most was: NOTHING! We were pooped. I don't think she quite believed us because before we knew it our cousin was over for the evening. Luckily she was just as exhausted as us and we just chatted then chilled out in front of a movie.

Have you ever seen An Officer and a Gentleman? Please tell me that you have. This was the first time that I have seen it. When I leave for work now I go with the hope that an officer will come and sweep me off my feet. Well, not really but you get it. If you haven't watched, you have to. I am a hopeless romantic.

You know when you are so tired that you get hysterical? Well that was were the 3 of us were at at 11pm on Monday night; my cousin, sister and I. We had a lot of fun together.

We aslo watched Eat, Love, Pray. I am kind of mixed about this. It was fun, but there was lots of stuff that I didn't really agree with. There was a really funny scene with Julia Roberts and her friend trying to get into a pair of jeans which was very similar to a real life scene with my sister trying to get into jeans the day before! It was fun to see a movie with my sister though and we did enjoy it. It made me want to go to India and Italy!

Well, that was our fun trip. We bought the same dress (when we were younger our mum used to dress my sister and I in matching outfits. I think she thought we were twins. I am pretty sure she would know that we were born 20 months apart though? I'll have to ask her about that.)
My sister took a cute photo of the two of us but I don't have a copy of it just now. I will post in when I get it. My brother, sister and myself are all going off in different directions, to different countries even , and this makes my Granny very sad. I was really challenged this week to spend more time with her and pick up the phone more often. She misses us. I miss her.

I can't wait for my sister and I to go on another trip, and maybe next time we can drag our baby brother with us!

Coming soon...

I have a few things that I have to blog about, so when I find the time you will see get to read what is on my heart.

I will also be sharing a few little treasures that I have found over the past few months. But for now, I better get ready for work!

"This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Good-bye September!!

I can't believe that September is over already. How can a whole month pass by without you even realising? Well that is what has happened to me this month. It is scary.

So, October, I am excited to see what you have in store for me and I will do my best not to let you slip past me!

Crazy Love.

by Francis Chan.

I have been reading this wonderful book for a couple of months now. I started reading it this summer, while I was away, and just loved it. I should have finished it by now. It is so challenging and just what I need. I'm not going to go completely into it just now, I think I am going to wait until I have finished the post. But I am going to leave you with something that I read last night that really challenged me.

"There has to be more to our faith than friendliness, politeness and even kindness."

I always remember being taught in Sunday School that you have to love your enemies. At work just now there are a couple people that are very difficult to work with and they are really testing me. It has been really easy to complain about these two people with each other and after reading this last night I realised that I need to work at changing my attitude toward them. I have to show them more than the above qualities and genuinely love these girls. So this is what I am going to be working on just now.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:32-36

Autumn has arrived.

Autumn is definitely here. Summer clothes are away, not that they were really used much in Scotland this year, and warmer clothes are out. So here are a few things that I am loving just now.

My fire.I am loving being able to light my fire and snuggle round it at night. It makes the house so cosy and looks so pretty. This time last year I didn't even know how to light a fire so I still fell very proud of myself when I am able to do this!

Hot water bottles. I love going to bed with my hot water bottle! And the other day I was up at 5am to go to work and when I got home at 11am I had a little nap, and had probably the best nap of my life and I think this has everything to do with my pink, hot water bottle.

Crisp cold days. I have a feeling that everyday will be crisp and cold but I am enjoying them just now. It reminds me of our childhood holidays to Mull. We used to go every year, around this time. It makes me want to go for a lovely walk. I am sure there will be lots of those this Autumn.

Wrapping up. I love being able to wear gloves and hats and scraves so this time of year really suits me. I also love that it is no longer summer so I don't feel annoyed about having to wrap up!

Autumn leaves. When I am cycling to work each day, I love to see all the new leaves that have fallen. I just love the beautiful Autumn colours. You really notice it here in Scotland because it is such a contrast from our lovely, green summer.

Long hair. For the first time in 4 years I have hair! I have had my hair short for such a long time that it is crazy for me to have hair below my shoulders. I have tried a couple of times to grow my hair out but never been patient enough to carry it out. I think because I have to tie my hair up for work that it has been easier to grow my hair. I am looking forward to it getting longer before

Christmas. My hair is thick so it is like having an extra blanket to wrap up in!

Baking. I love to bake and so have been doing lots of this lately. I also love to share my baking so I have been treating my work collegues to lots of yummy cakes! I love trying out new recipes too so I have been doing that. I might post a yummy recipe that I tried for a chocolate cake. It is so good and the icing is delicious!!

New friendships. I am pretty blessed to work with lots of different people. I learn a lot from being around these people. It makes me think a lot about the qualities I would like people to see in me. A few of the really big characters have been on holiday for this past week and I was able to spend more time with people that I had never really got to know. There are some real lovely people there and I feel really blessed to have met so many people from different countries.

Countdown to Christmas. I hear that it is only 85 days to Christmas, but who's counting? ME. I love Christmas. I love giving gifts. I love hearing the Christmas story again. I love Christmas hymns. I love our Church nativity. I love Christmas baking and crafts. Not long at all. :)

I am going to finish with what I am loving most of all just now. My Lord. I am really feeling His hand working in my life just now and love that He is in control of my life. I love completely trusting in Him for everything.

One crafty weekend.

Last weekend I had a few days off and was so excited about this. It was really the first time off I had since being back from Calfornia. So I was ready for it. First off, I wanted to rearrange my room. I LOVE how it is set out just now. Don't think I will be changing it for a while. I have a few little projects that I want to do with the furniture still but think it could be a while before I get around to it.

Months ago my mum came home witht his beautiful matierial from a little shop about 30 minutes away from us. Ever since she came home with this material I have been desperate to get to this shop and get some of this gorgeous material for some little projects I have been wanting to do for a while now. I honestly wanted to leave the shop with all the material. Everything was lovely, I was trying to think of more things that I could make because I wanted to get all the different materials! I managed to control myself and get just 7 different kinds!

Aren't they just beautiful? I can't wait to go back again and get even more!!!! And here is what I made the little jems.

It was really so simply to make. For the ruffle I just hemmed each side of the material and then I sewed down the middle of the material and then gathered the material. I tried to make sure that the gathers were equal the whole way down. I had this lovely ribbon left over from a Christmas gift that I made for my sister last year so I used that. I just pinned the ribbon down the middle of the gathered material. Then I used a sewing machine to sew down the middle. I then just pinned that on one side of my cushion cover. And the rest was very straight forward.

I am already thinking about what to make next, so watch this space. I have a few different ideas and lots of lovely material left. And when that material is through, there is a whole shop full of little beauties waiting for me! My friends and family can be expecting lots of different, handmade gifts this Christmas.

Back in the Summer of 2004!

I am finally finding time to sit down and blog about my summer. Sorry it has taken me so so long. It was a pretty exciting summer filled with fun, friends and family.

The first time I went to California was way back in 2004 with my sister. We were invited by friends we met at a wedding in Scotland. Long story short, we met a lovely couple there who invited my sister and I to spend the summer with them. We were very excited about the opportunity to go over there having loved the time that we got to spend with them while they were here. So off we went, I was 15 and my sister was 17. We all hit it off straight away and had a wonderful summer together. The last week we were there we went to their Church Beach Camp. My sister and I were both really, really dreading going to this camp. We had no idea what it was going to be like and didn't really know anyone that was going to be there. Little did I know that this would be a life changing week with lots of learning. It was so hard to leave them when we came back to Scotland. We didn't really know if we would see each other again.

We shared with our Church what we had experienced that summer. We were able to show them the Beach Camp baptism video. This really moved them and they were encouraged by this. We wanted more kids from Scotland to be able to experience what we had. So we pitched this idea to the Elder board and they loved the idea. The Church were happy to pay for the flights for the kids to get over there. In 2006 we were all set to go over, myself and another guy who attended our Church. At the last minute her pulled out so I went over by myself again. Of course, I had another great summer there.

I come from a small Church so for the next few years there really wasn't any kids that were old enough to go over. Until last year, 2009. My baby brother was now 16 and I thought it would be great for him to experience this before he finished school. And a close friend of mine was also in her final year of school. So we got ourselves oganised to all go over. I was so excited that finally I was going to be bringing more students over with me. It was a wonderful summer. They both learnt a lot and got to share their summer with two wonderful families who fell in love with both of them. I was able to go along to Beach Camp with them and help with the childcare there.

This year we were fortunate enough to send another student over again this year. I went over with her and was able to go along to Beach Camp with her. Anna is such a beautiful young girl, inside and out, and it was a real joy to have her there this year. She has a such a sweet spirit about her.

This year I was blessed with a lovely group of girls. They are all such sweet girls and loved having the opportunity to spend each evening with them at Beach Camp.

This summer I was so happy to spend more time with my very special friend. It is very hard being so far away from someone the is so dear to me but I am very thankful for the friendship that we do have. I have so much fun with this lady. She is such a blessing. Love you, boo.

Every year that I return to California I always make new friends. This year was no exception. I was lucky enough to share a tent with this girl as well as LOTS of laughs. She is a close friend of my lovely boo so we were sure to have a great time together. And we certainly did. The Lord definitely blesses us through friendships, and that is exactly what He did this summer. We had a lot of fun together this summer. I miss seeing these lovely faces each day.

For some reason I seem to have NO photos of my dear family over there, The Allens. They know how much they mean to me. They are famly for sure. I was blessed with many laughs, long talks, hugs, grandkids, "taking the mic", delicious meals, and even more special memories made. I love you dearly and miss you lots.

I will leave you with just a taste of what it is like when Karen and I are together. Lots of faces that look like this.

"Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart." Philippians 1:3-4

Sweet times.

Pretty little cakes that I made this week. The beautiful cases are from my lovely, American mother!



Beautiful flowers that were picked from our garden. Making the most of the flowers while they are still here!

I will post more interesting stuff soon.

Remember me...

Yet again, I am writing a post and it has been weeks since my last post. I always say to myself that I will write each week and I still think this as the week rushes past me!

This isn't even a real post as I don't really have a lot of time to write just now and I need a lot of time to fill you in on my summer. But I will leave you with a photo that my American mother took this summer.

Happy Birthday, Sister!

A couple of days ago my sister turned 23! I didn't get to spend the day with her but I did get to spend time with her tonight. I LOVE giving gifts to people so I love to take time to make sure I get something that they will use. My sister and I went to see Julie and Julia when it came out and we just thought it was adorable. So I got her that DVD and it came with some of the recipes from the famous cook book. I am looking forward to watching it with her. I also got her a shirt and necklace, and she changed into it as soon as she opened it. I think that's a good sign!

So here is a photo of my beautiful sister with her birthday cake and wearing her new gifts! She is also wearing another little necklace that mum gave her. It has a heart on one side, and the word "love" on the other. She hasn't taken this off since she got it! Here she is! Isn't she a beauty? I love her!

Sisters.

So, yet again it has been forever since I have blogged. I am going to try and find time this week to update my blog on the past month.

Thought I would leave you with a recent photo of my sister and I after a girly dinner we had a couple of weeks ago. We both have different hair styles just now. I LOVE my sister's new hair, I think she looks great! It makes me want to get my hair cut short again but I am determined to grow it longer. I think that this photo shows how similar me and my sister look, but also how completely different we look. I am so pale and she has a lovely tan. I have lighter hair, and she has much darker. But we do have the same blue eyes

Hair.

I am hoping to get a hair appointment next week. My hair is a mess, and it is getting long. I am trying to grow it out but I haven't had anything done to it since last November! It is needed some attention and is really feeling neglected. Below is a recent photo of me, just so you can see hoe long my hair is getting it. I can tie it up! It has been at least 4 years since I have been able to do this, I was still in High School! So I am enjoying it, but it is still a mess! Hopefully next week I can show you my new hair style and my hair will feel loved again.

Be still.

Tonight at work something so lovely happened, and something that I have never seen in the 4 months that I have worked there. One of the groups said grace. I was serving them their starters and when I came back to the table saw that they all had their heads bowed and were quiet. To begin with I thought they were all looking at their food, but they didn't all have meals so I soon realised that it wasn't that. Then one of the men said grace. It brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. It was just so lovely to see over here, it's not something that you really see when you are eating out in this country. It is always so busy at work and everyone is rushing around so it was just lovely to see these guests having a moment of still and thank the Lord.

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth"

Psalm46:10

i carry your heart with me ♥ by E.E.Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

(this is a photo I took of a beautiful ornament that my lovely American family gave me titled, Kept forever in the heart)

On my heart. ♥

One of the many lovely book that I got for my Birthday was a book titled Praying God's Will on your life by Stormie Omartian. I am really enjoying reading it and applying it to my life. It is very fitting to everything that I am going through just now. So it is very encouraging to have a book that can guide my prayers. I often struggle to hand everything over to God and it is often the last thing that I do in a situation. I am slowly learning to look to God in every situation as He is the only one who has control over every aspect of my life. At the end of each chapter there is a prayer. This was today's prayer:

God I acknowledge You as Lord over every are of my life this day. Help me walk in Your perfect will in all that I do and everything that I say.

I am always aware of trying to be a good witness, and find this difficult at times. It is much easier to go join in with everything that is going on around you but MUCH harder to not join in. I carry a card round with me in my purse that I got from my lovely American family.

The GROW Principle.

G: Does it glorify God? (1 Cor.10:31)

R: Is it right? (2 Cor. 8:21)

O: Is an act of obedience involved? (John 14:21)

W: Does it violate my witness? (1 Peter. 2:11-12)

I have looked at this card SO often that it is now instilled in me. When I am making any decisions, big or small, I always come back to this. It has really helped and guided me through the years. I have Tim and Margie to thank for this. I have them to thank for a lot of things, I don't even know where to start. I might have to save this for another blog.
Well, I just wanted to share with you what was on my heart right now. Time for bed.

Birthday weekend.

It has been over a month since I celebrated my birthday and I'm not really sure why I didn't blog earlier about this! Anyways, here I am doing it just now. :)
I had a wonderful weekend celebrating with my friends and family. I made a lovely meal to have with my sister and a close friend of ours. It was lovely. Then we met a few more of my dear friends and new friends of mine from work. I had a great time and was so glad that so many of my lovely friends were able to make it. It meant a lot to me.

The sun was shining brightly on my birthday and it was a beautiful day. My sister and friend stayed over with me and we had breakfast and opened presents together. I felt very spoilt, and very loved. My sister and I enjoyed a very lazy day together in the sun. We had a little picnic in the garden and laughed as we listened to my iPod on shuffle. Christmas songs kept coming on but neither one of us could be bothered to go and change it!

That evening we had a lovely Birthday meal together with my whole family. My Granny and Aunty made it aswell! We went to Kenmore Hotel and the meal was just delicious - everyone enjoyed it which is very unusual for our family! Take a look at some of the meals in the photos.

My lovely weekend was topped off with a phone call from my best friend in America, Nikki! I miss her a lot and never really realise how much I do until I hear her voice and get to chat with her. I am looking forward to the day that we live in the same country! A couple of weeks after my birthday I received a package from my American family and it was just lovely. It made me cry. The package was full of cards from different people over there and it really touched me. I love the dearly, and miss them too. One day we will celebrate birthdays together. I got some wonderful books for my birthday but I still have to get round to reading all of them! For the longest time I have been looking for a good book to read, then my birthday comes along and I have too many choices now!

My 21st Birthday was probably one of my favourite birthdays! Thank you to everyone that made it so special. I love you! Now, take a look at some of the photos that were taken over the coarse of the weekend!