Last post before Christmas...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!!!!

I thought that I should say this now, as I now definitely won't have time to post again before Christmas !! I hope that everyone has a really lovely day, and do also be sure to take a moment at some point during the day to reflect on what Christmas is really all about (I know I will be) - more than just the wrapping paper. (See previous post entitled "firm Foundations")

I shall leave you with a few words about Christmas which are not written by me. I know they're words we sometimes sing 'off-pat' at this time of the year, especially when like me you've been used to singing/playing in a couple of carol services each year; but last sunday at our church carol service I was just really struck by them, and what the song really means ! Enjoy.

"Hark, the herald angels sing: "Glory to the new born king".
Peace on earth and mercy mild; God and sinners reconciled !
Joyful all you nations rise; Join the triumph of the skies.
With the angelic host, proclaim: "Christ is born in Bethlehem".
Hark, the herald angels sing: "Glory to the new born king" !! "
Traditional carol, punctuation added by me.

"Won't that be fine !"

"I've been feeling a little bit overwhelmed,
I've been a little too wrapped up in myself,
So many things to cloud my mind,
I need to leave them all behind,
And think about a place and time
Beyond this life

Won't that be fine,
Oh when the sun always shines,
Nothin but love all the time,
Oh won't that be fine.

I love to get caught up in this daydream,
I smile to think about all that I'll see,
And any need I've ever had,
Any question that I want to ask,
Won't even matter
Gone with the past

Oh won't that be fine,
Oh when the sun always shines,
And there is love all the time,
Oh won't that be fine,
And won't that be fine,
When everything wrong will be right,
And when we will walk in the light,
Won't that be fine"
Ginny Owens

A song from a new album I've just had last week, thanks to one of my housemates :-) The album is awesome, and this song keeps coming back into my head. Amazing words, and the first verse kinda sums me up at the moment right now I think !
So much for me not posting again before Christmas ! I am now safely at home, as of saturday afternoon. It is good to be home, and to be able to be back with my mum, dad and brother, although it does feel a little strange with having had such a quick transition.

Phew, made it !!

End of term ! Woohoo !!! - Or at least I had my last official lecture yesterday morning. I was so glad I didn't have to go in for 9 today: it meant I could sleep in a little (i.e. for me a lie-in counts as sleeping til 9 rather than waking up at 7 !) I'm now very much looking forward to going home, and although I have much work I need to do this holiday somehow, I think I'll just give myself a bit of time to recover from the term first before I start on that.

I've had a very hectic and rather stressful week, but that's more in terms of trying to fit in all the things I was supposed to be doing. I did have a rather trying day on wednesday too. But although it has been hectic, I have done some really nice things too. Yesterday evening was such fun - we had our house Christmas dinner ! Being the first year I've lived out in a house, this is the first year I've had anything like that, and it was really fun ! We had lots of food, crackers, a bottle of wine, took lots of photos...plus we opened our 'secret santa' presents - everyone was really inventive for having only had £10 to spend ! We then played pictionnary til about 10.30. I've also had other fun things this week, a few of which include: my first time going to the Christian Union Christmas banquet (on tuesday), the carol service back up in Wills (on wednesday), yesterday I also went out for lunch with everyone from the lab where I've been working this past term. That was really nice, but very sad too cause it marks the end of my lab project, or at least the actual practical work side of things as yesterday was also my last day in the lab. I'm going to miss the people I've been working with so much. Although it has been very hard at times working in the lab, I will miss it, and it'll be odd going from working alongside these people pretty much every day 10-5/5.30 to then not seeing them much next term at all.

Anyway, I have a few bits and pieces to finish off today, not least of which is packing (haven't even started thinking about it yet, and I'm going home tomorrow !!) so I had best go for now. I will hopefully still post a bit when I'm at home, but I can't be sure how often it'll be yet. I'm sure I will probably post again before Christmas, but I shall say anyway that I hope that all those going home from Bristol soon have safe journeys and that everyone has a really great Christmas. I shall blog soon. xx

Pass the tissue box please !

Hmmm...you know those mornings when you wake up and just know that you're developing a cold ? Well, today was one of those mornings. And the rest of the day did not prove me wrong either: I now have a full blown cold, complete with tap-dripping nose and throbbing headache. I think it's a combination of lack of sleep having run my immune system down and my body going: "NOOOOO !! STOP, I need a rest, surely it's the end of term by now ?!!" Well, just one more week of term left to go, be it a rather busy one, and then I can collapse at home for a while - I may need a few days to recover before I can start on this mountain of work I have to do. And for now, I'll be happy if I can manage not to pass this cold to anyone.

Slightly better news: I have found some websites which have much 'better' Christmas jokes than I could ever come up with or remember off the top of my head. I especially liked:
Q: Why does Santa have 3 gardens ?
A: So he can hoe-hoe-hoe. :-D

For a wider selection, visit the websites below for a bit of a festive chuckle. (I'm sure there are other good sites too, but these are just the first few which came up when I google searched).
http://www.goofydave.com/christmas.htm
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/games/riddles.html

Sleep, ahhhh......

As I suspected that it would be, it was a very late night last night - great fun, but very late. I wasn't TOO bad getting up this morning, what's going to be interesting is about midway through the afternoon when it hits me. I think I need some proper sleep tonight !

Was a good service this morning though. Rather confirmed some things I've been hearing during the week and yesterday. Really need to make time to sit down and think things through. Also, for being so tired, my playing was amazing ! Now I'm not saying that as an ego boost or to boast or anything at all, just saying that God works in all circumstances and I'm sure must have helped me play this morning - I've never been able to play fiddles and fill-ins like that before !! (Maybe I should have late nights more often...or not ! :-D )

Was also exciting this morning cause as I was walking up to Woodies I saw the first flock of Redwings I've seen so far this year !!!! (For those of you non-birders, Redwings are only in this country over december/jan/feb time as they migrate over here, from Scandanavia I think. They hang around in flocks, eat lots of berries, and look like thrushes, but with red patches under their wings - hence the name !)

Also, I'm having trouble with Christmas jokes, as you may have noticed ! So if anyone has any really good ones (nice preferably) please post them up as a comment.

Wow !

First bit of news: our fire alarm seems to have sorted itself out !! SO I won't be driven crazy by constant beeping for the rest of the weekend. I don't know what happened, other than when I went to bed it was beeping and when I woke up it had stopped (the first thing I noticed when I woke up was that it was silent in the house - i.e. no beeping !)

I was then planning on writing about quite a number of interesting things, in particular about a rather thought provoking programme I watched on tele yesterday. But I've been quite blown away by things that have happened today, and so all thought of those previous posts has gone out of my mind. I'm still working through things from today, and it would take quite a long time to explain what has happened, but I suppose I can't tell you that and then not say anything. Suffice to say that when things aren't going well, and you're not doing things you should be doing, even if you're not seeking and willing to listen, God finds ways to break in in the most dramatic and unexpected ways !! I certainly hadn't planned today, but I know that I needed to hear a lot of the things that God was telling me. I just now hope that it doesn't end here, but that I can continue to work through things which were started today.

I now have a further 2 houseparties to go to tonight - a lot of parties this weekend ! 1 is a kind of Christmas/end-of-term thing organised by one of my friends from my course, and the other is a housemate's 21st birthday party ! So, I may end up being in bed late again tonight - don't ask me how I'm going to get up for a rehursal at Woodies for 9 !!! xx

What an evening !!!

Indeed, what an eventful evening I've had - full of fun (both actual fun and the sarcastic kind, if you get my meaning.)

The first eventful thing that happened, was when I was cooking supper (or dinner as I should call it - so insists one of my housemates). It was obviously so smokey in the kitchen, that the fire alarm decided to go off. Now, this happens quite a lot, so as I have always done, I just push the mute button, and then try and reset it when the smoke has gone. But alas, I obviously tried to reset it too soon, as it kept going off again several times. When I eventually did get it to decide that it wasn't smokey, it decided that it was going to beep nevertheless, in an annoying -"once every 6 seconds" way, and no matter what we did we could not get it to stop (even cutting the power did nothing). So it looks like we're now stuck with this annoying beep until monday, when we can get the Landlord to come and look at it. And you can't escape it, cause no matter where in the house you go, you can still always hear it ! It's very embarrassing. So, if you see me next week looking very tired and frustrated...you'll know why !

Then I had, well I spose you could call it a scenic trip around Clifton. You might also call it 'getting lost'. (I prefer the first option myself). Basically I was going to this houseparty, in an afore unknown to me part of Clifton. I had ever so much fun finding the house (in the sarcastic kind of way). It took me just over half an hour, which is quite bad considering that this house was supposedly near Goldney, and I live by manor (sorry, that will only mean anything if you live in Bristol). I was also a little scared walking down these not-very-well-lit streets by myself, up and down steep hills (as is often the case in Clifton, or Bristol generally), while holding a map, and so letting everyone know that I indeed had no idea where I was going, which is never a very good idea when walking alone.

Anyway, after all that, I did finally make it to the party, and it was really good fun (in the normal sense of the word). It was quite chilled out, I had some good chats with people I hadn't chatted properly to for a while, and we played the most amusing games of twister ever - I haven't laughed so hard in ages !!! Although it was fun, it was also in a way quite sad too, cause the party was to say farewell to Ollie, who's soon leaving Bristol, probably permanently. He'll be very missed.

I'd better go and sleep now I suppose. This is probably one of the latest nights I've had this term. But before I go, 2 things:
-although I haven't been having a great week, my knee is feeling slightly better at the moment (well, at least nothing like the agony of sunday and monday) - I think the knee support helps a lot.
-Secondly, I realised that I haven't been keeping my promise of more Christmas jokes ! So here comes another (very bad again, sorry.)
Q: What national disasters occur when you drop the Christmas dinner ?
A: The downfall of turkey, the disintegration of China, and the overthrow of grease (Greece) - get it ! Haha...well, ok, I'll try and think up a better one for next time. You have to excuse me, my poor brain is tired. :-) Night night !

Knee update

...For those who may be interested. Although I know that God can heal people, I do think he uses doctors sometimes too :-) Hence I went to Student Health today (the first time I've been to see a doctor for years and years !!!) I was expecting long queues and a very long wait, but in fact I was in and out again within half an hour !

I was told that I've damaged a ligament on the right side of my left knee, but that it should sort itself out within a few weeks (and to come back again if it hasn't). The doctor also said that apparently I have very lax/loose ligaments, far looser than she'd expect to see on any normal person, and that's why I may have had problems with my ankles in the past. I was recommended a knee support and ibuprofen.

In some senses I was very relieved that it was nothing more serious, and that I wouldn't have to have any further appointments etc. But in another sense I'm a bit annoyed/upset/etc. that I have this tendency to do this - have problems with my limbs. I do love walking and running so much, but it's just made really hard when my some part of my limbs start aching after walking a little way (don't ask me why I chose to come to Bristol !!!) I know that if this is my main health problem I should be very grateful. But that's very easily said, but much harder to act out.

p.s. Thank you to those who have been praying. Especially to the person who prayed at about 11.50pm last night - my knee was really painful all yesterday, but suddenly at 11.50 it stopped hurting ! (Not completely, I could still feel that something wasn't completely right, but enough for me to be able to sleep well and not be distracted as much.) Just the suddenness of it couldn't have been anything other than God answering a prayer, so thank you.

Firm foundations

Before I start properly on this new post, can I first apologise for the seeming way that my blog doesn't really flow and that my posts are all on completely different topics. In some ways this also reflects my current state of mind, as I do flit from one thing to another generally, but in another sense it's partly an artifact of the blog cause I only post now and again. So, after having said that, I'm sorry for yet ANOTHER post on another different topic !

I was in church this evening (good service btw, apart from the fact that my hurting knee was distracting me a lot so I ended up sitting most of the time, but that's another story, which I'm sure you don't really want to know about...although, if any of you Christian friends of mine have a spare moment, prayer would be appreciated, as my knee is giving me quite a lot of trouble and is getting worse). Anyway, as I was saying, I was sitting in church, and had a moment where I was just thinking about Christmas. In the past few weeks, most people have been talking about whether they feel "Christmassy" yet, and whether they feel in the Christmas mood and like writing Christmas cards etc. And I've been getting caught up in this too, thinking that after my shopping trip yesterday I was feeling more "Christmassy" and more ready for Christmas. But in fact I'm not ready for it at all. I thought: Feeling "Christmassy", what does it really mean ? Surely it's just a state of mind and emotion which we hype ourselves up into ? In fact, the real reason why we celebrate Christmas is far more solid and firm than that. It doesn't come one day and go the next, like the feeling of "being Christmassy" does. Why do we celebrate Christmas ? It's because we're celebrating when Jesus came into the world as a human, to live the human life, and then ultimately to die that humiliating and painful death so that we could be brought back into relationship with God (He then rose again !) I was just thinking how amazing that really is. I just can't get my mind round the fact that Jesus would choose to do that for us, choosing to go through all the pains and trials of life on this earth, and then how it ended too.

What I'm really trying to say, in my long-winded rambly way, is that in fact we surely shouldn't feel the need to be concerned with "making ourselves feel Christmassy" because the foundation for Christmas is much more solid than that. (Hope you see what I'm saying ?) And before any of you interpret me wrongly,I'm not saying Christmas lights and trees and cards etc are bad and we shouldn't have them, I love seeing all the pretty lights as much as anyone else, (in fact possibly more than some people). I'm just saying that I (and probably all of us ?) need to be careful not to let all of that "wrapping paper" distract me from the gift inside the wrapping paper, of what Christmas is really all about, like I have been up until now.

I find, for me at least, that to be true about a lot of areas of my life: that my life can be an emotional rollercoaster. I feel so excited one moment I can hardly contain myself, and the next can feel so down. But there is something more solid than my feelings, and I want to learn to live more and more not just being ruled by my emotions, which are good things sometimes, but are also here one minute and gone the next. I want to learn more and more how I can put my trust in Jesus more and live with His truth as the rock under my feet which never changes.


p.s. Just before I go, I feel I should tell a Christmas related joke (since a few of my posts have been on this theme recently) - i apologize in advance that it is so bad:
Q: "What goes 'Ho, Ho, Ho, swish" ?
A: Santa Clause stuck in a revolving door ! *Groan* :-)
(I may unleash more Christmas jokes on you next week)

"What is easy" vs "what is right"

And, to make up for not posting much this week, here's even more from me !

I've just gotten back from going to see the new Harry Potter film with one of my housemates. I thought it was truly amazing !!! I think it's gotta be my favourite film so far (which is odd since book 4 was by no means anywhere near my favourite book). I got completely lost in the film, and while I thought it was a shame that they had to cut out so much 'non-essential' stuff, I thought they did do it really well and cast all the new parts well (though of course you're entitled to disagree with me if you like.)

What struck me a lot in the film, was when Dumbledore says right at the end about how Harry will have to choose "between what is right and what is easy". It may not be totally true, but it kind of has some truth to it perhaps (though again, feel free to disagree with me on this). Again, this is an example of how I think deeply about things. Many of my best friends in Bristol have long since learnt that films (most of the time) affect me very deeply. Not in the way I think about the film itself, but on what it leads me to think about. Let me give you an example from tonight...the whole good vs evil thing, as my housemate said, has many parallels which may be drawn with Christianity (bear with me), however unintentional they may be. I think that is going to be inevitable in a film based on this topic of good vs evil, and is in fact why I love such films so much. Many people will argue that we should only have films/books which end sadly, or not so in an 'unrealistic' way. But I think they're wrong. Although life is hard, ultimately inside us we know that there is more to life that the way things appear to go, even when hard. When we see a happy ending, it feels natural somehow and we feel that this is how life should be. But ultimately, we can know that life DOES have a happy ending, despite whatever may be happening to us right now. Good WILL always triumph, and in fact already has - God has triumphed over evil.

Phew...told you I thought deeply. And all from Harry Potter !! Please do know that I'm not trying to preach or anything, or sound superior in any way. That's not my intention. My intention is, as always, to just share my thoughts as I think them (or perhaps slightly after I think them as I cannot always find a computer whenever I need one. Lol). But do come back at me in the comments if you disagree with anything I've said, or comment too if you have any suggestions for my blog, or in fact why not just say hi :-)

I think that's enough from me for one day. (It'll keep you going in case I don't get a chance to post much next week !) I shall now go and listen to Dave Matthews Band (CD borrowed from a good friend - the band is awesome btw) and then head to bed. Night !!

The difficulties of Christmas shopping.

This is the difficulty of not posting properly for a few days: I now have lots of things I want to share !!! You have been warned, this may be a long post (tho I may split it up into 2!)

Have had a nice if fairly packed day today. After a fairly substantial lie in (very needed!), I went down to broadmead this morning to start some Christmas shopping. (I know that I won't have any time after I get home from uni before Christmas, so need to be organised now).

Buying Christmas presents is REALLY difficult I find, (as in fact buying any present is). I think it must be due to the fact that as humans we are ultimately selfish creatures, when left to our own devices, and so when I want to buy a present for someone, I subconsciously find myself looking around the shops and seeing what things I like, and I guess most of the time I end up buying things I would like if someone was buying a present for me. At the end of the day, that's not what buying a present for someone is all about. It should be about buying something which will bring joy to the other person. I've been trying hard recently to change my attitude to present buying, and try to get into the other person's shoes, so to speak, and actually think about what THEY'D like ! Sounds obvious and really straightforward I know, but in practise it is actually really hard, because most of the time, because we are all so different, what the person likes and what I like are two completely different things, and I constantly have to keep bringing my mind back to the fact that I'm not shopping to buy myself things. But, whenever I have done this, it's always in the end been more satisfying: both for me when I've bought the present and for the person receiving the gift. Hmmm...(or maybe I think too deeply about things which shouldn't be thought about that deeply ? I do have a tendency to as I have been told.)

Anyway, I think I did reasonably well for having only had 3 hours - most of my Christmas shopping is now done, plus I had the fun task of buying lots of decorations for our house !!!! (Our Christmas tree looks really cool !!)

Grrrrrr...

Well, to my shame, I missed a day yesterday i.e. I didn't post. I was just exhausted, as I'd been up fairly late doing lots of reading I had to do for this morning (3 long research papers full of structural information!) and so couldn't face blogging after I finished.

This post isn't going to be very exciting either really...but just thought I should let you all know I'm still alive, despite having not been posting :-)

I've had a very very very frustrating morning (hence title) - see post on monday about protein gels. I'll spare you the technical details, since a good many of those who'll be reading this are non-scientists, but suffice to say that either the gels wouldn't set, or they leaked too much, or they didn't leak enough, so I'm not going to now be able to do all I needed to today. Grrrr. Protein gels don't like me for some reason !!! Well, at least I actually understood the lecture this morning for once ! (Obviously the reading last night paid off.) Right. I'm off to have some lunch before I'm due back in the lab. I may post again later, depending whether or not I have anything vaguely interesting to say. Hope you're all having ok days. xx