Home.

I'm feeling a little homesick.

This usually happens whenever I talk to anyone in my family.

I spoke to my sister a few days ago, on Skype.

We only spoke for an hour, which for some people may be long enough but not for us.

Normally we talk for around 3 or 4 hours.

Seriously.

We can talk.

I am excited because our conversation was mainly centred on my trip home at Christmas.

I will be going home for a month.

I cannot wait.

My sister will be home.

My brother will be home.

My heart will be happy.

Here are some of the things that I am looking forward to.

(in no particular order)

1. My sister picking me up at the airport. I haven't seen her since September 20th, 2011. There will be tears.

2. Seeing my family. It is going to be wonderful.

3. Going on a little trip with just my brother and sister.

4.Snow.

5. Watching Christmas movies by the fire. So wonderful.

6. Christmas baking with mum.

7. Last minute Christmas shopping with my brother because he won't have any gifts yet.

8. Christmas Eve church service.

9. Wrapping presents.

10. Decorating the Christmas tree.

11. Eastenders Christmas special.

12. Coronation Street Christmas special.

13. The Queen's speech.

14. Watching Love Actually, The Holiday, Home Alone, Family Stone, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th street, Santa Claus, Elf...and every other Christmas movie!

15.Spending time with my two sisters.

16. Going for long walks around our favourite places.

17. Making soup.

18. Dancing and singing with my sister in the kitchen while our brother disowns us.

19. Giving gifts.

20. Making new memories.

I am excited.

December will be here before we know it.



Cycling...in Target.

Yup. That's right.

We were cycling in Target.

We know how to have fun.

I don't think they would have let us if we weren't buying one.

It was super fun.

Until people got in the way.

Don't worry, no one got hurt.

Except maybe when one guys heart stopped beating for a wee minute when my friend went flying past him.

(ha!) 

Annnnd...we had to try on some cute helmets, of course.

I'm telling you, if those little helmets actually fit my head I would be all over that.

Wouldn't you?

I think these two were my fave.

That pink bow is totally me.

And there I am, just chilling on my bike...in Target.

Whenever I am with these two we are laughing.

I am very thankful for their friendship.

They make being so far away from friends and family pretty easy.

Full of joy and fun.

And what's even better than that - they love the Lord and are contstantly challenging me to be a better person.

What more can a girl ask for.

They are such blessings.

Thankfulness.

Is is terrible that we sometimes have to be reminded to be thankful?

We have so much to be thankful for, the list goes on and on.

And yet, more often than not, I find myself be ungrateful.

I throw a little pity party for myself.

Yup, just me.

 No one else is invited.

Last week the Lord spoke loud and clear through my Pastors sermon.

Right to me.

God is pretty awesome when it comes to speaking directly to us and telling us exactly what we need to hear.

He spoke about the bigger picture and not losing focus on God's will.

He reminded me that I need to give thanks in the midst of any difficulties we are going through.

Seriously, you have know idea how much my heart needed to hear that on that VERY day.

God is so good.

So I go skipping out of Church ready to face anything and everything that comes my way being sure that I will smile on those things with my thankful heart.

And then it hits me.

Homesickness.

I was back at my pity party, by myself, thinking about my sister and brother, and my mum and dad.

My heart ached for them.

A bit dramatic, yes.

But this girl loves her family.

I was watching the show Brothers and Sisters.

Ok, there is so much in that show that I hate.

Yes, hate.

But..all the family stuff gets me everytime.

I don't think there is one episode that I have watched and not got teary eyed at some point.

I mean, it was such a great idea anyway.

Missing my family so I watch a show all about a family?

Yup, I'm an idiot.

Then I suddenly realised I really shouldn't be upset because I'm missing my family.

I should be thankful for the wonderful relationship that I have with then.

My sister and brother are two of my greatest friends.

I should be praising the Lord.

There are some days that I can't think of anything but sitting with my mum watching a movie, cooking with her, baking with her, making her laugh, crying on her shoulder, crawling into bed with her in the mornings.

Again, shouldn't I be praising the Lord for this sweet relationship?

So it's time for me to turn this frown upside down.

(Yes, I just said that.)

So I now smile when I think of my family. I think of all the great memories I have with them and I thank my Lord for them.

I will leave you with a verse that we all know very well but often need the reminder.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!    Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.   Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.    And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:4-7

Always, people.

Not sometimes but always.

I am going to work hard to make sure I do this everyday, over and over.

There is so much to be thankful for.

And so that I put a picture in this post I will leave you with my new hairdo.

...and a silly face!



catch-up.

Definitely in need of a catch-up on here.

And boy is there a lot to fill you in on.

I am writing to you from sunny California.

Yup. It happened. wow.

It is very surreal. I am still adjusting to it.

I often find myself just in awe of God and all that He has done in my life.

We got the good news in March and I pretty much booked my ticket as soon as I could.

In hindsight, it was a little rushed.

But remember, I have been waiting for years for this all to happen. So when everything was finalised I was desperate to leave.

And it has really been a whirlwind ever since.

I have been here for 2 months and it already feels like 2 years in some ways!

I already love my job.

Seriously, the Lord made the perfect job for me.

I work with some of the greatest people ever.

No joke.

They are becoming very dear friends.

I feel part of the family already.

I am part of the most wonderful small group.

I look forward to it each week.

The Lord has just flooded my life with so many lovely people.

He has blessed me with some great, solid friendships already.

I am one thankful girl.

Having said all that, it feels a little different this time.

 I can't quite put my finger on what exactly is different, but it sure is.

I am missing my family.

Big time.

Especially my brother and sister.

I find myself daily longing to hang out with them.

I am fortunate that I get to speak with them pretty often.

I spoke to my sister this morning for a couple of hours.

Funny how hours can pass with sisters and you don't even realise it!

I also spoke with my mum last week.

That was wonderful.

I miss her a lot.

There are some things that only your mum can make better.

We were laughing and talking.

Nothing beats laughing with your mamma.

I can't wait for the day that we are in the same room and laughing.

So there are days when I feel pretty lonely.

In some ways I am thankful for this.

I am thankful that I can lean on the Lord knowing that He has my very best interests at heart.

I am confident that this is where the Lord wants me to be and I will strive to do my best for Him.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6

I am fully trusting in my ever faithful Lord.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

He wants me to flourish in all that I do.

My hope is in Him.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7

I am still rejoicing!

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks.

Her smile is contagious.

These little girls never fail to make me smile.

Having fun with my sweet friend.



My small group ladies. They are such a blessing.

I love these two lovely ladies. They are such an encouragement to me. I am so thankful for their friendship.

So there is a little bit of a catch-up and some photos of my sweet blessings.  



My big sis.

My darling big sister is in Australia just now.

Last time I saw her was 20th September 2011 when she was saying good-bye to me as I headed off to California.

There were some tears.

She is the best sister a girl could ask for.

I am missing her lots just now.

Thankfully we get to Skype it up.

Today she climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, while I had a Disney duvet day.

Both I think are equally awesome, well maybe her day topped mine a little bit.

But Tarzan, Aladdin and Hercules were pretty good company for this girl too.

Anyway. Sister, I wish that I could watch Pocahontas with you and sing along to it and laugh uncontrollably at how hilarious we are!

But we could watch any movie and I would be happy.

There is nothing quite like time with you.

I miss you more than you know and can't wait til the day that I see you again.

It is going to be one special day.

I love you, and I am so thankful for our friendship.

This photo was taken a year ago at our baby brother's passing out parade.

We had been sitting outside for about an hour, it was so so cold.

It cracks me up everytime I look at it.

I treasure it.

Linking with Emily today. You should too! Go grab someone you love and take a precious photo with them.



News.

I was doing so well with my posts, until I wasn't!

Anyhoo, here I am nearly a month after my last post.

And I have some news.

A couple of weeks ago we received the great news that my visa application has been approved!

So there has been a lot of emotions going on around here.

First and foremost, I have been praising God.

I can see His hand in all this and trust that this is His perfect timing.

But...there has also been some freaking out.

There are a few more details still to be worked out, I have to go down to London to have an interview at the U.S. Embassy where they will stamp my passport.

I have been told that I have nothing to worry about there because our case is strong.

But I am a little worry wort so that is exactly what I have been doing.

I have been reading this verse, over and over.

Praying it, asking for this peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus - Philippians 4:6-7, NIV

There have been lots of tears.

Tears of joy, and tears of me just being dumb.

Thankfully, the Lord has blessed me with so many wonderful people who have been great this past week. Telling me I'm being stupid, encouraging me and praying with me, making me laugh.

Seriously, my friends bring me such joy.

So, right now, I am waiting for some documents to get to me.

After that I will be heading down to London to (hopefully) get that stamp in my passport.

I'm praying and praying, knowing that the Lord can work out all these little details.

I am a happy, thankful girl just now.

Truly grateful for all that the Lord is doing in my life.

Excited for what's to come.

 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. - Ephesians 3:20-21, The Message.



Memories.

My brother went back to sea (not even) 2 weeks ago.

I miss him.

We had a lot of fun while he was home, as I have said many times before. 

I spoke to him a couple of days ago and it was soo good to talk to him, and laugh with him.

He is such a blessing. 

I am going to share some photos that I took the day before he left. 

He was not cooperating, as usual.

I look super, duper tired (cause I was!)

But they are fun, and they are still memories. 

...and these are the best that I got! 

One day I am going to get a lovely photo of the two of us! 

Even with all his weird, pretend-to-be-sleeping faces, I sure love him. 

Next week I am going to post photos with my sister, because I love her just as much! 

(She is in Australia this year which makes it pretty difficult to get any new photos with her!)

Linking up with Emily today. 

Delight.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with my dear friend on Skype. 

(I know I say this all the time but, seriously, it is the best) 

Anywaay. 

We were having a conversation about the future and my hopes. 

I was telling her about a conversation that I had with another friend last week 

*I hope you can keep up with me, I do have a point* 

We were talking about our future and in particular marriage and families. 

She said something that got me thinking. 

"what if this isn't what the Lord has planned for us though? and we sit here talking about it dreaming about it. I want to be happy with whatever the Lord has in store for me."

I had never looked at it in this way before. 

I have always, since I can remember, looked forward to having a family and children one day. 

What if this isn't what the Lord has planned for me? 

SO back to the other conversation on Skype.

*I don't know if I can keep up with this story so there is no hope for you!*

As I said, I was telling her about this conversation.

And she said something that really got me thinking.

"I think it is too much of a desire of your heart for the Lord not to give it to you" 

This of course lead me to this scripture. 

Delight yourself in the Lord, 

and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Pretty simply. We delight ourselves in the Lord and He gives us the desires of our heart.

Except, what does it mean to delight myself in the Lord.

I have been going over and over this for the past couple of weeks.

Delight.

Here are some definitions of this word. 

- a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment, joy, rapture

- something that gives great pleasure

- great pleasure, happiness or satisfaction

This challenged me.

In everything I do, do I take great pleasure in the Lord? 

Do I portray a high degree of joy in the Lord? 

Do I seek happiness in Him?

If I am being honest, no.

This makes me sad. 

Why shouldn't I express great joy in all that I do?

I am richly blessed.

Recently I have been occupying my thoughts on LOTS of other things.

They are not necessarily things that I shouldn't be thinking about but the definitely shouldn't be coming before the Lord. 

Because I am spending time dwelling on these things they are bringing me down and this affects my attitude. 

My heart was full of joy and love for the Lord, but I wasn't always expressing this in my attitude and actions.

So all these things that I was worrying about and that were consuming my thoughts I handed over to the Lord. 

By handing over my burdens I am freeing myself up for the delighting part!

By releasing ourselves from these things we are able to work on showing our joy in the Lord. 

I don't want to delight myself in the Lord in order to get the desires of my heart. 

I want to do it because I love Him and I do find happiness in Him. 

I delight to do Your will, O God, 

and Your law is within my heart.

Psalm 40:8

We need to set our affections on Him, and desire Him more than anyone else. 

I think the key to delighting in the Lord is spending much more time in His word and in prayer.
 By doing this we learn more about Him and become more dependant on him.

So that is exactly what I am going to do. 

I am going to change my attitude and show great joy in all that I do.
I am going to seek happiness in Him, in His friendship and love. 

So this is what has been on my heart for the past few weeks. Something that I have been thinking about, praying about and working on.

Weird faces.

At the start of the week I shared that I spent a couple of days with my sweet friend.  

We wrapped up and went out for a lovely walk one afternoon and I took my camera.

I wanted to get some photos of the two of us together because I don't know if we have any. 

Actually I can think of one photo that we have. 

But one photo for 10 years of friendship is bad. 

These photos are the best that I got. 

This girl does NOT like to smile for photos. 

She is nearly always making a face. 

She cracks me up! 

They make me smile. 

And the 2nd photo was not planned. 

We just made the exact same, weird face because we are awesome like that! 

I'm linking up with Emily today. 

Go and check out what she has to say about getting in front of the camera and capturing memories! 

Music.

I love Christmas music. 

I get quite upset when Christmas passes and I have to start listening to "normal" music again. 

(I do occasionally sneak in a cheeky, wee Christmas song!)

So I have been listening to Christmas music since November. 

And I don't mean after Thanksgiving, I mean like November 1st. 

I know the rule - no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.

I'm sorry, but not really. 

I am from Scotland and we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, therefore I can start whenever I like.

Glad we cleared that up! 

That is 2 months of solid Christmas music. 

(which is basically 2 months of solid joy!)

If I listen to anything else during this time I feel really bad and feel like I cheated on Christmas. 

I realise that this sounds like I have a problem, but this girl just really loves Christmas and celebrating the birth of her Saviour!

The other wonderful thing about it is that because I haven't listened to other music for a while it now feels like I am hearing it for the first time! 

I have been listening to a lot of Kari Jobe. 

If you don't know who I am talking about please go and look her up. 

She has some beautiful songs.

Her words really speak to my heart. 

Over the past few days I have been listening to one of her songs over and over. 

I find it really hard to listen to her music and do anything else because I get so lost in her words. 

You are for me. 

You can find a link to this song below. 

I don't know about you but sometimes I have to remind myself that God is for us.

You fill me. You see me.

You know my every move

and You love for me to sing to You.

God knows our every move, and knows what lies ahead. 

Lord, I know that You are for me. 

I take great comfort in that. 

p.s. I will share what else I have been listening to soon. Some of it hilarious, well not really but it is stuff that my brother listens to and we he had it on when we were driving all over the world last week! It is not at all what I would normally listen to but I got a kick out of it! 

Tyres and slippers.

Last was my baby brother's last week home before he goes back to sea. 

His 5 weeks went very quickly. 

So he was trying to divide his time between everyone, we all know that is hard! 

His girlfriend started back at Uni so he was driving back and forth to Glasgow during the week. 

This is really his story but we were all feeling it with him so I am going to write about it. 

He was on some back road going to Glasgow on Tuesday and he saw a lady with her car pulled over at the side of the road. 

He stopped to see if she was OK. 

(He really is a good egg)

She had got a puncture and was waiting for the road recovery people to get there. She said they were going to be another hour yet. 

Fin said to call them and tell them not to worry about coming, he would change the tire for her. 

See, GOOD egg. 

She showed him this massive pothole in the road that she had driven through and that was what gave her the puncture. 

She was going to get in touch with the council and let them know about it. 

So all was good, Fin changed the tire and they both went their separate ways. 

Fin was the hero! 

He had a good couple of days in Glasgow with Corrie (the GF)

He was coming back from Glasgow to hang out with me.

I got a call from him to say that he was late in leaving Glasgow. 

He was on that same back road coming home. 

You might see where this is going. 

He hit that pothole and got himself a puncture.

He was so mad, and mad with himself.

He said that as he was coming down the road he suddenly thought 

oh, I better steer clear of that pothole

Almost as soon as he thought that he hit the pothole. 

Poor kid. 

So he changed the tire and went on his way, a little annoyed to say the least. 

He had just got a new car too and this was going to be an expensive tyre to replace. 

I don't know much about tyres, in fact I don't know anything really. Except that they are round and they turn.   OK, I will stop being a girl.

But I do know that it shouldn't look like this! 

I am told that this is buckled. 

(The one below I just put in because you can see my cute Christmas slippers on the left!)

Fin took these photos, in case you were wondering. Not me. 

He managed to find a guy in Crieff that would be able to fix this for him. 

At first he wasn't going to be able to do it because Fin needed it before he drove back to Plymouth on Sunday. 

The guy called back and said that he would do it in his own time. 

He did it on Thursday night and called at 9.30pm to tell Fin that he managed to fix it. 

He was such a good guy. 

So Fin was going to pick this up when we were on our way back on Friday. 

This is not the end of the story...

On Friday, before he set off home, he got another puncture. 

I didn't believe him when he called to tell me this. 

My poor baby brother sounded so disappointed. 

I think he was just done with spending money on tyres and wanted to get home. 

Looking back now we laugh but at the time it was far from funny. 

I don't think I can talk about tyres anymore.

But I wanted to share that story for a couple of reasons.

My brother has such a big heart.

When we were driving home in the snow a few weeks ago there was a car stuck in the snow and this old many pushing the car up the hill. 

Fin pulled over where he could and got out and helped the man. 

He makes me a very proud sister when I see how he is growing up. 

Also I just loved that this man really helped my brother out by working during his spare time. 

I was encouraged that this guy would go out of his way to help someone that he didn't know.

It challenged me to think about how much of my time I give to others. 

You will be pleased to hear that he made it safely back to Plymouth with NO punctures. 

I was almost expecting to have a phone call saying that he got another puncture and that I would have to laugh at that. 

When I told him this he wasn't too happy!

Miss you already, Fin! 

Thanks for a fun 5 weeks filled with lots of laughs and love. 

Love you.

Now, I have told you before how hard it is to get a nice photo with Fin.

This was after a long, busy week and we were both tired.

Fin was no cooperating at all, he wasn't actually sleeping though! 

I have quite a few interesting photos that I will post sometime this week. 

But will leave you with this one just now. 

And I know that you all want to see a better photo of my new slippers. 

They are so pretty, I know! 

1 Corinthians 10:31

My Friend.

I had such a busy, blessed week last week! 

I think I will have to do a couple of posts to cover everything.

On Tuesday I got to spend the day with my dear friend, Ciara. 

She is lovely and has such a big heart. 

Ciara is a few years younger than me, but she was always much older than her years. 

We went to the same School and Church Youth Group.

It has probably been a couple of years since we have had a chance to catch up properly.

We talked for hours, and hours. 

It was wonderful. 

I didn't realise how much I missed this girl until we spent time together. 

We talked about everything that is going on in our lives, which is why we were up until 3am!! 

But everyone stays up that late catching up with good friends, right? 

In between our talking we did have time to watch our movie, Love Actually. 

When this movie first came out we went to see it at the cinema with our mammas and it has now become "our" movie. 

We try to watch it together every Christmas. 

Last year I think we fell asleep during it! Actually, I know that we fell asleep. We must be getting old! 

But we managed to stay awake the whole way through it this year. 

I learn so much spending time with this girl. 

She challenges me to be a better person and to think differently. 

She is a wonderful, committed friend who gives you her full attention. 

She is a Godly woman who knows her Scripture. 

She is just such an encouragement to be around.

On Wednesday we went for a long walk. 

It was so nice to go on walks that I had gone on as a child. 

We both have a love for the area the we grew up in. 

It is pretty beautiful. (I didn't take many photos so I will have to take some another time and post them for you)

We walked around the estate at Taymouth Castle. 

It is pretty spectacular. 

We also did a bit of exploring around an old, beautiful house. 

I think I will have to go back on this walk and take some photos of all the beautiful places that I am talking about! You need to see what I am talking about. 

When we got back from our afternoon of walking we were a wee bit cold! 

So we spent the rest of the afternoon drinking tea and watching movies.

Perfect. 

Ciara is going to Holland in a week, actually it is probably sooner than that. 

She is going to study over there for 6 months. 

When I was with her before Christmas I had lots of questions for her. 

Her response went something like this.

I'm not really sure where I am staying yet, but I'm not at all worried about it. I really feel that the Lord wants me to be over there and know that He is going to work out all the details perfectly so I am not even going to think about it. 

I tell you, this girls faith would challenge you!

I can totally relate to that in that I feel exactly the same way about California. 

It is in the Lord's hands and He has a perfect plan.

Such a comfort knowing this. 

So through all my rambling I hope you know that I had a wonderful couple of days with my dear friend.

She is such a blessing to me.

Ciara, I will be praying for you as you set off on your little adventure. 

I know that you are going to do great things there and I am so excited for you. 

You are a beautiful, talented, faithful, thoughtful, Godly young lady.

Love you.

(this is the best photo that I got of sweet Ciara, and I think it's pretty cute!) 

Philippians 4:6

p.s. I will fill you in on the rest of my week later. 

Full heart.

I spent the day with the baby brother today.

I had such a great day.

We talked serious stuff, and laughed about some not-so-serious stuff.

We talked about our big sister, who is in Australia just now (we miss you Luce)

We had lunch.

We had a quick visit with Granny and Aunty (Granny's sister)

It was just a great day.

I did get a bit sad when I thought of him going back to Plymouth next week.

But I write this more thankful than sad.

At one point today he said to me

"I've spent more time with you since I've been back than anyone else, except Corrie"

(Corrie is the lovely girlfriend)

"No one else spends this much time with their siblings"

I said to him "You should be happy that we get along so well and that we are so close"

He told me he was.

Yup, my heart was pretty full today.

The Lord has absolutely blessed me with great relationships with my big sister and little brother.

We have so much fun together and I am truly thankful for that.

I love laughing with them.

I am missing my sister just now.

But we manage to speak often.

Skype is wonderful, when it works!

Even when it doesn't work it still makes us laugh.

I printed off a calander from Under the Sycamore

I wanted to look at each day differently this year.

It is easy to get caught up in "pity party" and feel sorry for youself.

There are so many ways that the Lord blesses us and I want to be thankful for those things everyday.

So I will not be sad that my brother leaves on Sunday but thankful that we have had 5 weeks together!

Today I am thankful for a great relationship with my brother, and getting to spend precious time with him before he goes back to sea.

Sick of being sick.

I have not been feeling well since December 9th.

That's right, one whole month.

I am soo done with feeling crummy.

It started off as a cold- sore throat, running nose, sore chest, ear-ache..the works.

I had this when I was flying back from California.

Yup, I was that person on the plane that everyone hates.

That you hear coughing and think "you'd better not come anywhere near me with those germs"

(Em, sorry bout that folks)

Sometimes I feel a bit better but most of the time I still feel terrible, like every morning when I wake up.

So today I had a lazy day by the fire watching movies

(and maybe feeling a bit sorry for myself!)

Chariots of Fire was on TV - gets me everytime! Great movie.

Then I watched the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Enjoyed that too. (bit freaky though)

And now I have just finished watching The Curious Case on Benjamin Button. I have mixed feelings about that. I laughed at first at the weird-looking-alien baby. Then I felt a bit sorry for him. Then it was a bit weird. Then I didn't relaly understand it. Then I wondered if it was a true story. So I still haven't made up my mind about that one.

Best part of the day though.

Getting me some snuggle time with Brindle (our cat)

I never let Brindle sit with me and snuggle. She can get quite vicious (well, only when I push her off me - her claws come out)

But today it was just nice.

We'll see if I let her do that tomorrow.

I am thinking that I probably need to go to the Docs on Monday and ask them to make me better.

Well, ask them if they can give me some drugs so that this lovely cold/flu/horribleness can leave my body.

I think it has had it's fun now.

I thought I would share this with you today.

You're welcome.

At least I didn't tell you how many times I sneazed today..and it wasn't pretty, let me tell you! ;)

Here's hoping tomorrow is a snot free day for everyone.

(Sorry for getting grose. I am delusional. I have watched a mix of movies today and I need some sleep)

Little brother.

If you have read my previous post you will know that my baby brother is home.

When I say baby, I mean 18 year old.

Not sure when he grew up!

Sorry Fin, but you will always be called baby brother, get used to it.

I wanted to get some photos of us together while he is home.

I will now show you the photos I got.

Try not to laugh.

Now let me explain how difficult it is to take photos with this kid.

All posed and ready for the perfect photo and just before I take it he says something to make me laugh.

Great.

Hello 4 chins and winking action.

When I first saw this I thought it was horrible.

I think it is slowly becoming one of my favourite photos.

I have a feeling that I will look at this when he is miles away from me and really cherish it.

And probably laugh a little bit!

I tried to get another photo...and this is what I got.

Nice face Fin!

It makes me laugh too.

I'm linking up with the lovely Emily today.

You should too.

Have a wee read at why it is so important to take photos with your loved ones.

It doesn't really matter what they look like, they will be treasured.



2012 (resolutions).

Already?

Ok, so I feel like I need to say something about the last post.

I guess when you read the title you would think that there would be a list of all the best parts of my year.

And I really should have said that the singing and dancing with my brother was one of my favourite moments of the year.

The Lord blessed me greatly last year.

He blessed me with more friendships,

deeper friendships with old friends,

 time with my American family,

precious time with my sister and brother,

allowed my "spiritual batteries" to be recharged,

and many more blessings.

Glad I cleared that up. Phew.

Anyhoo, onto this year.

I am excited for this year.

I have no idea what it will hold but I do know who holds it!

Of course, just like last year, I have a page full of New Year Resolutions.

Why do we do this? I don't even know where my list is from last year let alone the goals that I wrote down - woops!

This year my list looks a little different (I think, from what I can remember of my list last year)

I wrote on New Year's Eve (you know if you don't write it before the 1st of Jan you have to wait until the next year do make resolutions. Yup, there are rules.)

Some of them would make you laugh, like my mother did when she glanced at it and read the first few.

Ok- I will share that with you.

Lose weight.

Eat healthier.

Exercise.

You're not laughing too much I hope.

I am sure that these appear on nearly every list of resolutions.

Thankfully there is more to my list than these 3.

Here are a few of them.

I have a list of books that I plan to read this year (2 of which I have already started reading - I get points for that right?)

I am excited to get into these books. They are all Christian books and my hope is that they will challenge me in new ways.

Watch less TV. - I don't really watch an awful lot now but it is so easy just to turn the TV on and watch whatever nonsense is on. (annnd..I won't have time to watch TV with all these resolutions I have set!)

Write letters. - I used to write letters all the time. I love receiving letters. Something about someone taking the time to write to you is so special.

Be a better friend, sister, daughter, cousin. - It is so easy to get caught up in everything and forget the people that are so important to you, and who you are important to. I want to be intentional with my relationships.

Work on my attitude towards others. - There are some specific "others" that I am talking about here. It is my prayer that the Lord would on my attitude towards these people, that I might be the person that He uses to speak to them.

Buy less - It is so easy to buy things now that we hardly give it a thought. You can go online and buy everything you want. You end up buying things that you don't need, material things. I want to change that this year.

Be intentional about prayer - I already pray for friends, family and others. But I want to make a point of asking these people I pray for, exactly what they need me to pray for.

And that's all. Yikes.

Not unachievable at all.

I can do this, and I want to do this.

I plan to e-mail this list to a few friends so that they can hold be accountable.

Even with all these resolutions there is one the comes above all of these.

That is that the Lord's will be done in my life.

Praying that your 2012 will be greatly blessed!



The Best of 2011

I can't believe that a whole year has passed.

Seriously, that went quickly, right?

I have been thinking about all that 2011 held.

It got me thinking about the best bits.

I could list all of these things..but I'm not going to (not today anyway)

But I think the best part of the year was probably a couple of days ago for me.

My brother is home for Christmas.

He is in the Royal Navy and has been away since July.

As you can imagine I was pretty excited to see him.

I have so enjoyed spending time with him.

Anyhoo, back to my favourite moment.

We were on our way to town the other day and Fin let me pick the music.

FYI - in my family this never happens because I will either put music from musicals, soppy romantic songs..etc. They don't go down well (secretly I am sure that they enjoy this!)

SO...I had picked a few wonderful songs.

Dancing Queen, by Abba, came on.

I was sure that he would as me to change it, but he didn't.

He joined in with my and sang his little heart out.

Ok, he might have been taking the mic a little bit but it was hilarious.

I had a huge smile on my face, and sometimes I couldn't help but laugh.

I thought to myself

" right now, this is the best moment of my year"

There was no time to think about everything else that was going on, no stress, no worry.

Just fun times with my little brother.

I am going to leave you with the music video for Dancing Queen.

Don't try and resist dancing. I think it is impossible.

So dance along and smile as you think about all the wonderful blessings of 2011.

On purpose, with purpose.

I am really going to try and work on being more consistent with my posts.

I think one a month is a little bit pathetic!

 I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and took some time to reflect on the real reason for the occasion. I have to admit that Christmas became a whole lot more special when I really appreciated all that the birth of Jesus meant for me.

He is really the greatest gift we could ever ask for.

I am back in Scotland for a little bit.

Hopefully, I will be back in California soon.

(please pray for me)

I am enjoying spending time with my family and especially the little brother.

He is a such a blessing to me.

I do have some fun photos from Christmas day, but I need to get them from  brother first.

We had a some what eventful day.

My brother, Dad and I headed to Bridge of Earn for Christmas day to spend it with our Granny and Great-Aunt.

They were very excited to have us spend the day with them, as were we!

We arrived, and I put the pavlova safely in the kitchen.

(I don't know how you are supposed to travel with a pavlova but I was holding the plate, the pavlova was sliding all over the place so I had to hold it with both my hands. I had 2 fingers on one side of the pavlova and 2 on the other and still had to have hold of the plate. I don't know how it made it there in once piece because I dosing in and out of consciousness.)

Annnnnyhoo.

We said "Merry Christmas" to the girls (the old girls) and started unpacking all the presents from the car.

As I was coming back in Aunty was on the floor in the house.

She had tripped and must have hit her head off the cabinet.

She had a cut just above her eye.

She sure gave us all a freight.

Thankfully she was alright.

It was crazy because on the way there I had been thinking about how old they are getting (Aunty will turn the big 9-0 next year)

For the most part she is doing great. But she has had a few little bumps now.

I do worry about her.

But honestly, I think (ok I know) that I fall over more often than her.

I was putting up Christmas decorations last week and stepped back, lost my balance and took a heavy step back and smashed a glass bauble. Great.

No glass in my foot though! Phew.

I am enjoying relaxing these holidays.

It is horrible outside. Really it is.

I think I could quite easily go into hibernation right now.

I have no desire to go outside. The wind is crazy, and throw rain in there and it is just nasty.

There is no fear of me blowing away though, I have not stopped eating since Christmas Day.

Why does that happen around this time of year?

You just see food and think that you need to eat it or something terrible is going to happen.

I just want to eat all the food so it is gone.

I've not just been eating.

What I've been enjoying more than eating is reading.

I am finding it hard to put down a book just now.

I am readying a book called The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian.

It is very challenging, and encouraging.

I started reading it a while ago, I may have spoken about it here before.

But I haven't read it for a good few months.

It is actually a 3 in 1 book and it also have The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Parent.

I have been reading parts of all 3.

Now is hasn't been that long since I have posted.

I am neither married, or had a baby.

But I still find it relevant.

As I read through the different chapters and sections I find myself agreeing with what the writer is saying.

It is very real, very honest and I can relate to what she is talking about.

I find myself reading it and saying "YES" in my head.

Yesterday I read this.

" We have to put our expectations in the Lord and not in other things or people."

Emm, yes.

How often do we forget this? I know I do.

As I wait  and pray for my visa sometimes my prayers are not focused on the Lord and His plan but focused on the outcome I want.

That is not to say that I don't believe that the Lord wants me to be in California.

I do.

But my prayer should be, and is, that the Lord's will be done in my life.

His plan is far more perfect than any plan I have for my life.

"We want to live life on purpose and with purpose"

It is so easy to get caught up in the things of this world.

I want to be part of something greater.

My prayer is that I will live my life on purpose and with purpose.

Ladies, I would definitely encourage you to get this book if you haven't already done so.

My dear friend, Juliet, gave me this book for my Birthday 3 years ago.

I have picked up it a few times in these 3 years but I am feel challenged to study it more closely.

I'll leave you with a photo of my in my new Christmas Pjs!

Yes, they are covered in robins and holly.

And yes, they are beautiful.

Praying that you have time reflect on the things/people that really matter this holiday season.