A Colour Explosion

I made an impulse decision a week ago to register for Colour, a womens conference run by Hillsong. I was a bit aprehensive as I know these conference are very girl girl with lots of hugging and kissing and telling each other how fabulous you are (not to mention all the screaming) and to be honest that is not really my scene. Having said all that, I am extremely glad I went along. I didn't realise quite how much I needed this weekend till I walked out last night, feeling tired, but completely refreshed and ready for the next step.

They had some truly inspirational speakers including Christine Cane and Holly Wagner. Both totally down to earth women who have been through so much in their lives but have come through it to become spunk, fun loving, amzing Godly women. They were so inspiring to me and I have walked away from this weekend feeling filled up to the brimb and ready to go out into the world and live life to the full.

I HAVE to mention the amazing finale that Colour organised. Almost 200 men in tux's handing out beautiful red roses to all the women while sinding "The way you look tonight". Definetly an amazing note to end the weekend on.

Are you always fine???

I saw this video today and it really struck a cord with me. 99% of the time when someone asks me how I am, I will say I'm fine or I'm good. I could be having the worst day of my life and I will still struggle to be honest with the people around me about how I'm really feeling. I think I was conditioned into thinking people will only like me if I am happy and doing good and that people will leave as soon as I "burden" them with my problems. I know this is totally unfair on my friends and that I am really underestimating them. From now on I vow to try and be a bit more honest and not always automatically respond with "I'm fine"

The Sasy files No. 1

I arrive at school to fetch Sas and witness her forcing a kiss on a very unhappy looking Arthur.
Bron: Oohhh Sas I saw you kissing Arthur
Sas: (blushing) yes
Bron: Why were you kissing him?
Sas: I like Arthur........ But I LOVE Jeremy.
Bron: So is Jeremy your boyfriend
Sas: Yes
Bron: (after a couple minutes contemplation) Does Jeremy know he s your boyfriend
Sas: No I'm trying to keep it a secret.

I had to laugh at the thought of poor Jeremy who has unwittingly become the object of Sas' desire. You can ask my brother all about that. He was her "boyfriend" while he was here for three weeks last year. She declared her undying love and promised (threatened) to marry him. Seems he is in the past now though.....

No Camo in the City

London is an eclectic city. We have every nation in the world living here and also pretty much every wierdo. So it takes a lot to shock me these days. I am quite happy to sit opposite a goth on the tube and check out their various piercings and tatoos without batting an eyelash. But that is not to say that I am unshockable.

I was happily driving Sas home from school yesterday when I saw a man in full camo trousers. Now I seriously hope I am not offending anyone here but there is absolutely no excurse for camo clothing. Unless you are in the army or playing paintball (even then it's a bit wierd) you cannot get away with it. The whole point of camo is to make you invisible in your surroundings. But all it does in London in make you stick out like a sore thumb. I was tempted to stop and take a photo of said offender but then I thought he might think I like it..... (shudder)

Where is my mind????

Today I was craving a chocolate muffin real real bad. Sainsbury's only seemed to sell them in six packs and I wasn't craving them THAT bad so I swung passed Starbucks and grabbed a muffin and a bottle of water. It wasn't till I was back at my car that I realised that I had paid and then happily walked off minus the muffin and water. The thing that really cracked me up though was that upon my return the cashier gave me a fat lecture about forgetting my goods. Now I know I am scatter brained and forever loosing my cell phone and keys, but who can honestly say that they haven't left stuff behind at the cash desk.... I mean I have heard of people forgetting their entire weekly shop!!!!

Ice Age 2 - The meltdown

I love feel good happy movies. I generally go to the cinema because I want to escape the hectic London life and just space out for an hour or two. So I was perfectly happy when Ian suggested we go see Ice Age 2 last night. I wasn't expecting any thing amazing but I was really pleasently surprised by this one.

It was outstandingly funny. I guess even more than usual as I went to see it with a bunch of people all with a really great sense of humour. We pretty much laughed non-stop much to the annoyance of everone else trying to watch the movie. Infact I was even told to ssshhhhh at one point.
My favourite characters were Crash and Eddie (picture above). Two possums with major attitude who just reminded me so much of Ian and Steve.
I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a laugh you will come out of the cinema feeling great.

Glorious, heavenly, wonderful

So it is official.... summer is here. Well it is 90% here anyway. The days have been getting longer and (slightly warmer) and today I am out in the garden basking in the sun with a skirt on. That is right people, today will go down in history as the first skirt day of the year.
Oh glorious summer....I welcome you with open arms and bare legs.

Subliminal messaging

To date my blog entries have been light and airy anecdotes about life in general but tonight I am in a melencholy mood and have been doing some serious reflecting whilst watching The O.C..
Robbie Williams recently released a new album entitled intensive car and for the record I think Robbie Williams is amazingly talented. I don't know if I am doing the girl over analising thing but he seems to talk about religion a lot on this album. To my knowledge Rob in NOT a christian and his lyrics certainly don't indicate any different. They do seem to be crying out for answers though. In the end I think there is a longing in all of us to find the answers to life's big questions, why are we here, what is our purpose and Rob seems to be on the cusp of finding out. In his song "Make me Pure" he sings
I know I'm gonna die
So my revenge is living well
Oh Lord
Make me pure
But not yet

I stopped praying
So I hope this song will do
I wrote it all for you
I'm not perfect
But you don't mind that, do you?
I know you're there to pull me through
Aren't you?

To be honest I found these lyrics a bit shocking and I found myself desperately praying that someone would come along side Robbie and show him that there was so much more to life than this. It also really got me thinking about the influence musicians have on people and what people would think hearing these lyrics. It sounds to me like he is saying, "God I know you're out there and I know I don't live a perfect life (which none of ever do) but I don't care. I'm going to live my life the way I want." I am sure that this would not be shocking to most people as it pretty much sums up our culture and attitude... esp here in England. But do people even here what he is saying? Or has everone become so dull that words in a song have no impact anymore. Do we blindly let other people's music and opinions filter into our lives without thinking about what we are listening to and advocating. I know music is a touchy subject for a lot of people and I am one of those that does not like having to filter my choice of music but I have had to realise that music is not as harmless as I would like to think and I have to at the very least be aware of what I am listening to.

THATS IT!!!!!

This year I am boycotting my own birthday. I am going to be 22 for another year and next year I will think about turning 24. I am not celebrating or even acknowledging my birthday. I think I will feel liberated..... and young.....

Aboutlife.com

I have joined another bolgging site. I feel like I am cheating on my first love a bit but I was desperate.

It is quite an exclusive thing and you have to actually be invited to join. So when I finally got my personal invitation, after weeks of waiting, nothing could hold me back. the site is aboutlife.com and it has been started by my church. It is basically a site with loads of random people's blogs on it. This site has some really interesting (and some totally random) information and I always find something worth reading on there.
The best thing of all on there is a podcast done by some of the teachers from the theological college, exploring some of the difficult questions people have about christianity a facinating listen. If you ever have a spare and rather bored moment this is something that could potentially keep you busy for hours.

My Irish Name

Your Irish Name Is...

Grainne Collins

What's your Irish Name?

A Hope and a prayer

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to excape London for a 4 day weekend. After much research and about a thousand million e-mails we settled on a really unknown town (if you can call it a town) called Hope Cove. After a rather hectic day rushing around we picked up the car on thursday afternoon and made tracks out of London as fast we could. The drive was bout 4.5 hours and we made it to the cottage round midnight. After a quick look around we all crashed for the night.

Friday morning Steve and I went to do the grocery shop but got so carried away by the amazing scenery we ended up driving for bout 2 hours. We eventually settled on a tiny shop in Dartmouth and then had a lengthy shop for food. Steve seemed to be packing the trolley with more and more things every time I turned around. We arrived back to the cottage to a very very hungry bunch of people. We had absolutely no signal in Hope cove so they had no idea what had happened to us.

The whole area was so amazing. Rolling green hills and amazing deep blue seas. We pretty much spent the whole holiday sleeping and eating with a few walks in the area for good measure. The evening we seemed to come alive and there we some very revealing and hysterical board games.The girls Lost the bet and had to cook and clean for a whole day and make the boys tea and coffee on demand. I have to say the boys were such gentlemen that they didn't even hold us to the bet. (I wonder if the girls would have done the same?????) The boys taught us to play poker and I am proud to say the girls played very well (despite the fact that I didn't win a single hand)

The whole weekend was exactly what I needed. A chilled out weekend far from city trappings, with amazing people who made me laugh pretty much non stop the whole weekend. Sadly it did have to end (despite my whaling "I'm not ready to go home", loudly and at length)and monday we rose early and headed off to London after a farewell walk on the cliff. The traffic was horrendous and what should have taken 4.5 hours took us 9 hours heading home. I will never travel again on a bank holiday.

Thanks to everone one the trip. Guys you made this holiday what it was....amazing

To compensate for the shock of being back in London I am now planning my next holiday....

The cat got in the bag but all to no avail

After bothering the hell out of the neighbours about 5 times trying to get the cat out of their house, we eventually got her into the cat basket. Only to have the vet tell me that it was risky doing the surgery as we could not gaurantee that the cat hasn't eaten...... do I want to risk it????/ At this point I'm thinking, just give me the bloody anastetic and be done. So just for laughs we rescheduled for next week thursday cause I didn't get enough of this today.

P.S I do know everything (pretty much) is spelt badly on this page but I'm still recovering from my shot :-)

My pre-holiday warm up

On the eve of my holiday I feel myself as excited as I used to as a child when we were about to leave for P.E. for a 2 week trip. (for those of you who don't know P.E does not warrant a 2 week visit. EVER

We are only going down to Devon to get some time by the sea but I feel as if I was off to Disney world. I guess it is just the prospect of going for a real holiday i.e no sightseeing or major missioning to do. I am even excited in the face of having to play various "boy sports" all weekend long. It seems nothing can damped my enthusiasm. Yay holidays and real sea sand.

Keep your eyes pealed for part two..... could the holiday ever live up to my mamoth expectations, will I get thrown into the sea, will the boys loose an amazing bet that leaves them realing? Stay tuned for all this and more

The cat is out of the bag

I've lost the cat.And normally this wouldn't be particularly important but today the cat is going to the vet for major dental surgery. And she has somehow found this out and has dissapeared.
Actually I know exacty where she is. She is with the next door neighbour and is hiding under there bed like some kind of spoilt child. So I have taken the cat box over there and have left it to our kindly neighbours to get her ready for the trip to the vet. Life is all about delegation I always say. ;-)

The Miracle that is Ebay

I have made a discovery.....many have discovered it before me. it has had the same mesmerising effect on others as it has had on me.... its name is.... EBAY. Yes people I have joined the ranks of thousands upon millions of e-bay addicts. The whole thing has been a joyous experience and one I am keen to share with you all.

I cannot quite remember why I joined ebay that fatefull day all of 3 weeks ago, I think it may have had something to do with my brothers birthday which was looming, or it may have just been boredom. But the fact remain that I registered and entered shoppers paradise.

You can find anything on Ebay, and I do mean ANYTHING. From cars and motorbikes right through to underwear and make-up. it is amazing what people are willing to sell....and buy. I have to date bought a gameboy, some games to go with it, the 'Friends" game, pictionary, the Gummi bears (all 65 episodes on DVD) and a diary. All at extremely good prices. All have arrived and been pretty mauch perfect. So my e-bay experience has been bliss. I have heard that this is not the case for every one. I have heard a few horror stories some involving ski pants and accidental multiple purchases, But I am not one to shop and tell....