Online shopping.

Tonight I received my very first online shopping delivery. It was weird. The guy delivering the stuff was really lovely and clearly had a few formalities that he had to go through because it was my "first time". So I greeted him half way up our path as I thought I would just be getting my stuff and that would be that. He then proceeded to tell me well, silly things. He handed me a piece of paper that had the details of what I ordered. There was a section for groceries, chilled and frozen. He informed me that the items I bought from the frozen section would be underneath the title frozen. Yeah, that's what I thought. But whatever, he was just doing his job. Then we went to the truck that had all these shelves and bags and I thought to myself...we are going to be here all night, in the dark, looking through all these bags for the things that I have ordered, and I don't even remember what I ordered!! Lucky for me he kinda knew what was mine. He pulled out all these crates, put some back it, pulled some more out and then there was my shopping. He asked me "Is that it?" As I said before, I had no idea what I ordered....so yeah, that was everything! Seriously though, he was lovely and I really felt for him. It was 7pm and he still had a bunch of stuff in his truck. His night was not over yet.

So I brought my goodies into the house and checked all the items off my list (it had to be done. What if they cheated me out of something? What if they gave me the wrong shopping? I had to do this.) It was all there. YAY for me. Successful first online shopping date!!

But...I didn't really enjoy it.
 I didn't get to walk round a shop handpicking the items that I was going to bring home with me.
I didn't get to smile as I walked past people, or bump into people I hadn't seen for a long time.
I didn't see extra things that would be perfect for something I am planning and grab them.
I didn't get to buy a little chocolate bar to eat on the way home (ok, maybe that one is a good thing!)
I didn't get to chat with someone at a checkout and ask them how their day was.
It was convenient, definitely. But I don't know if it was worth it or not. If I knew that I wasn't going to make it town for a while then I would maybe consider doing it again. Don't get me wrong. The service was great and I am happy with my purchases but I feel like I missed out on something.

This girl will be walking round stores for her groceries in the years to come. Well, that is until we have robots to do it for us of course.
♥

Sick of being sick.

Ok. I have been sick since Tuesday. I hate being sick. I am getting no sleep at all. I wake up pretty much every hour from 3am. Argh. Not cool. Then I wake up in the morning and I can't breathe. On Wednesday morning I went into town because I had to get a few things for this weekend (it's my mum's birthday) and it felt good to get out of the house. It was such a beautiful day, the sun was shining but it was still cold. I had been there no longer than 30 minutes when I started to feel horrible again. My head actually felt like it was going to explode, I had a temperature and my throat was so sore. So I spent the rest of that day recovering from my little venture into the "Big City". So I was off work yesterday, and again today. I didn't do an awful lot yesterday, then I changed the sheets on by bed and worked up a cold sweat! AHHH. I'm off work again today but think I will  probably go back tomorrow. I have so enjoyed not being at work just now. I need to fill y'all in on why work is driving me nuts! It will be nice to get out of the house though. There come a point when you just get bored with sitting around trying to feel better. And there are only so many times you can watch Gilmore Girls. Now I do love Gilmore Girls but yesterday I watched the same episode 4 times. Yes, 4 times. One thing that is lovely just now. That it is not dark when I am walking to work.

And I think that is probably enough rambling from me...today! Sorry for going on about being sick.

♥

Vanilla memories.

This little beauty above has been a great friend to all the baking I have done for years. I'm pretty sure that it is what makes my baking taste so good! Let me tell you about how this came to be in my kitchen.

This was a gift from my dear friend, Margie. She gave it to me when I was visiting her in California in 2006. If I remember correctly, she askes a friend to get this while they were in Mexico. I still don't know how I managed to get this gem home. When I was flying home that summer my flight was early in the morning from LA so we all spent the night at a Hotel near the airport. We woke up in the morning to find the news littered with everything that was going on at the airports. There had been a bomb scare at one of the airports and they were being extra cautious about all liquids that were going on the flights. When we got to the airport there were queues going all along the side of the airport. It was making me very uneasy, aswell as being upset about saying good-bye to my American family. I was sure that they would put my suitcase through the scanner and see this huge bottle and think for sure that it was that "B" word!!! But thankfully for me, and everyone that I bake for, the vanilla made it all the way to Scotland.

I have had some great times with my Mexican vanilla and will definitely miss it in my kitchen. I might just have to make a trip to Mexico for some...it would definitely be worth it.

But, after writing this, I would much rather make a trip to California to make more memories with American family. In fact, I would love to be booking a one-way ticket. Praying that this will happen soon.

First signs of SPRING!

I had to buy a magazine the other day because it just screamed at me "SPRING IS COMING!!" On the cover I read the words "first signs of SPRING" and I was so excited. The magazine is called County Living and my mum often buys it. It is full of little lovelies, I always enjoy looking through it and thinking to myself, I'm going to have that in my home.

We bought these beautiful flowers. They make me smile everytime I walk into the room. Today the sun was shining on them and they colours were so bright! They have the most gorgeous scent too. It smells like Spring around here. I can't wait to see blossoms on the trees and Daffodils in the gardens. I love Spring, actually I just love it when the seasons change. So right now, I do love Spring.

The Hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful" springs to mind here. No pun intended. I have lovely memories of singing this song in assembly with and our Head Teacher holding up huge cards with the lyrics written on them. Oh how times have changed. ♥

My prayer today.

I'm not sure where or when I stumbled  across this verse but I wrote it down on a piece of paper, that I looked at today. I remember reading it and thinking...I want to live my life this way.

 "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." - Titus 2:11-14

When I read it I prayed that I would chose to live my life this way, that I would say NO to ungodliness and worldly passions. This is still my prayer today.

♥

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

  Love never fails."

♥ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ♥

I had a very quiet V-day! I had lunch with one of my best friends. I did get a few special messages from people that I love. I just read the above passage and when I was typing this post (and highlighting the different parts, which actually really makes you think about what is being said in the passage!) I had to smile. What a beautiful reminder of love. How wonderful to know that there is someone who loves us unconditionally, who loves us sooo much that He sent His one and only Son to save us. This just makes my heart so happy.

I sure hope that you felt loved today, and made someone feel loved.

p.s. I had to smile today I was getting some groceries at around 7pm and there were lots of men raking the flowers that were left...and on sale!

A little glimpse of my brother.

My little brother was in the newspaper on Monday. My Dad just sent me this photo. Have a wee read. So proud of that boy. Love him dearly.

p.s. Don't worry, I am still going to be doing a BIG post with the best photos from this weekend. I will be bragging about my brother again soon.