Christmas Time

IT'S CHRISTMASSSSSSSS!!!!!

Next week anyway. Are you excited? I am. I think. As I get older I guess you see it differently, my parents never told us about santa and I never 'believed' in him. It's funny isn't it, people say they believe in santa and they think it's ok to believe in something they can't see, yet when you tell someone you believe in God they come up with thousands of counter arguments about how it is impossible to believe in something or someone you can't see. But to tell a child that a man drops presents off at Christmas? Oh yeah, they totally believe that. What do you think?

We love Christmas at our house, we have a 12 foot [fake] christmas tree that seems to be smaller each year as I am not a small child so I suddenly see the real height, not from a child's perspective!

Here is a pic of the beauty :)

I love it so much!

Anyway I hope you all have a relaxing, comfortable and exciting Christmas filled with fun, food [of course!] and quality time with family 

Thanks for stopping by!

Em  

18 years

It happened! I have finally turned 18! Now some people may dread getting older, but for me I am finally catching up to an age I fit. 

I have always been abnormally tall (lol) and in photos in primary school I am literally a head above the rest! With height comes age. Everybody always thinks I am way older. You don't believe me?

When I was 13 I went to the Globe Theatre with my neighbours and my sister (who is 6 years older) We went with two girls who were about 3 years younger than me and their father. That night I got called the mother TWICE. TWICE. ?!?! 

I was...shocked...at 13 it's not something you really want to hear. haha this guy was like "one for mummy" and I stood there, jaw dropped. While everyone laughed. Then in the taxi home the driver said "careful of mummy getting in the car" I stopped in bemusement, "Why is everyone saying that?!"

Anyway, as someone who is used to being asked questions like "what is your job?" or thinking I was married I guess it has its perks. Maybe.

My 18th was amazing and surprising! All my wonderful friends surprised me with an eventful night out in London. The Christmas market on Southbank, down to Piccadilly, off to Leicester Square for Haagen-dazs ice cream and then to the Ice Bar!! Which was super cool. All made of ice, the table, the bar, your glass! It was really cool!

Here are some pics from the evening

They gave us ponchos with hoods

My amazing friends and family who surprised me!

The adorable Carousel we just HAD to go on

It's in ice. ICE!

Anyway hope you are all well and thank you for reading!! 

Em :)

Hair Saver

 I'm going to start to do some hair tutorials on here, so keep checking to see what's new!

Today I'm going to talk about my partner in crime, my go to when I don't feel like going anywhere...

Dry Shampoo! Seriously if you don't use this, run to to your nearest drug store and buy it. Now. 

Here is why. If you are like me and get greasy hair REALLY fast, that you need to wash your hair every day (now that is me) then dry shampoo is great. My hair is going through weird stages of lameness. I just don't know what to do with it! It's like it has given up on me! So I now have to wash it every night to make it look acceptable for the world to see!

SO anyway, back to what I was going to talk about, dry shampoo. 

I washed my hair in the morning and didn't have time to wash it until the night after. So this is what you should do if you have no time to wash your hair and still want it to look good the next day.

The day you shower and have clean hair, that night, before you go to bed just go crazy with the dry shampoo. It is really easy. Lift your hair and spray, it will go white but that is when you rub it in and keep going. Your hair will quietly get bigger and bigger as you rub it in. Sleep on it and in the morning it will still look clean. 

I have used dry shampoo and it hasn't worked but that is because it is good to spray it when your hair is still clean as then it holds its cleanliness and will keep it that way so your hair doesn't get greasy, because you have already sprayed. 

My hair gets bigger and a lot of texture is added to it and plus side, it stays clean for a whole other day. SCORE 

Let me know if this works for you! Thanks for stopping by!

Em :)

Water Fountains

So this is a bit of an odd post but is something that tickled me I just had to share.

Water fountains. Ever thought much of them?

They are great; I mean they provide water for the cluster of us who forget to bring a water bottle or any other means of liquid to a place where we will need water most.

Water fountains are not everywhere. No. They are in specific locations that we will need the hydrating water the most. Think about it. Airports. Schools. Parks. Where else? Not everywhere. Not in every store. No, selected locations for the faint hearted who always, I mean occasionally, forget to bring their own.

Anyway the other thing that I find funny about Water Fountains is how people drink from them. Umm lol. It’s hilarious.

When I was at the airport I felt thirsty, so I went to the trusty-dusty water fountain. I had to do this weird leaning squat to reach the lowered sink and then had to constantly hold a button to receive the trickle of water that came out. 

But wait it gets interesting. I found myself pouting, or having duck lips with my mouth half open in this embarrassed thirsty stance. I felt so awkward. And when I feel awkward I then make myself look even more awkwarder? I just went from bad to worse. My experience was one so normal to people but as I squatted with my mouth half open pouting at the faucet. Yeah I wasn’t comfortable. I thought you know what? I could drink later. Not to mention the many people who walked by me as this whole thing went down. But as I finished, I stood up and walked away chuckling to myself, thinking ‘just laugh it off, I’m not alone in this. I’m sure’.

So yeah, I don’t think I will be using them for a while. Lesson learned. Bring your own bottle with your own water in it. Or at least use a water fountain to fill up a bottle that at least makes more sense.

Em :)

Mumford Insight

One of my favourite things to do on a cold day is go to my room and paint my nails. Ha sounds so exciting right? But for a girl who owns over 70 nail polishes and takes seriously her cuticle care. yeah its fun. As I do everything they would do for a manicure and more! I play one of my favourite go-to albums. Mumford and Sons - Babel. After a week of holiday I really looked forward to just chilling doing my nails and hair. While listening to the album one of my favourites 'Below my feet' played. In the silence of my room, filled with dusty rasps of Mumford voice, I payed attention to the lyrics. 

Here is what I found interesting...

Now before I go on... I want to say this is merely my thoughts. It's not what they meant. Just something I picked up on.

The chorus:

Keep the earth below my feet

For all my sweat, my blood runs weak

Let me learn from where I have been

Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn

Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn

Keep the earth below my feet

I found this interesting as why should we keep the earth below our feet? The earth, the world. The world, everything inside it, is what everyone yearns for. With it comes all the hype, the beauty, the fame...the world, everything. Keeping it below our feet keeps us grounded. As we succeed in life stay grounded. 

The next line I saw interesting. 

For all my sweat, my blood runs weak

Sweat only happens when we work for something. To sweat we need to do. We need to do it a lot and give it our best. But blood. Our blood. It is always there, always running, it is ours in us, running through us. Sometimes when we strive to do well, be it for someone or something we can sometimes forget who we are. We can get so caught up that we don't realise who we have become. The first picture that comes to mind which is a bit weird as it is now an older film, is the movie 'The Devil wears Prada' In this we see a girl try and be someone else. Dress differently, act differently but she wasn't that. She was something more real. Human, not like the others. 

In our lives are there places where we sweat to act, do, be different. And from 'all my sweat' My blood. Who I am, it runs weak. It is no longer the first thing people see of me. It is not who I am supposed to be. 

Leading from there comes the next line

Let me learn from where I have been

As it is kinda inevitable that we are going to mess up in life, we can then look back remember where we were and never go that route again. We don't have to be that person anymore and make this mistakes again. It takes practice. And diligence. It may be hard to relive those days, go the same easy route, But what will the outcome be? Would you want to do it all again just to be let down in the end? Again? 

The last line which really struck me.

Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn

Keep my EYES to SERVE my HANDS to learn. 

Why is it that way round? Don't we learn from seeing? Don't we serve from doing? 

To be honest, I'm just spit balling ides here, but maybe it is that way because the only way we learn a new technique is by doing. I remember how when I was staying with a friend she told me how to use an appliance, then left me to it. She wanted me to try, to make a mistake but then try again and learn from it. Hands, doing, Learn, doing. They go hand in hand (pardon the pun).  So as we live to learn it symbolises an action. You can learn something and never do anything with it. Never put it into practise. Until you make an action and do something. 

Keep my eyes to serve. Hmm. Interesting. How can we serve with our eyes? Who are we serving? Why are we serving? I believe we serve God, in all we do. To bring glory to Him. Serving Him means turning away from things of the world that are not edifying for us. We come across things everyday (with our eyes) that don't seem right, be it a situation, an image, a thought. We need to serve, not only with our actions, but with what we see and be careful that what we see in life can mirror our own lives. be filled with goodness, love, happiness. Be around those who bring out your best qualities.

Okay so I bet Mumford & Sons didn't go into that much detail when writing those lyrics. But as I sat at my desk in complete concentration, with my thoughts. The lyrics got me thinking. A bit weird? Maybe. But this is something I regularly do to things. I deconstruct them, pull them apart, find another meaning that can be applied to my life. So that is why every now and then on the blog you will see a blog about something you may never have thought of about a film, book, song. Or maybe... I'm not alone and there are other people who tear things into tiny pieces and glue them back together to find an ulterior meaning and value. 

Oh well anyway hope you are having an exciting weekend!

Em :) 

Surprise Surprise!

Okay, now I can tell you what was going on in my life for the past two weeks. So to begin with I haven’t blogged in a while…sorry… but I do have a reason. I was very busy as I had to get a lot of work done before flying to America and surprising all our friends out there, and especially one in particular as it was her Bridal Shower last Saturday. I love surprises. Umm who doesn’t? I love being surprised and surprising.

Typical me, I like to read into things a lot more than I should. So for me, a surprise is more than just shouting a word in a dumbstruck loved ones face. It shows love. It shows that you care about someone so much that you hold back a HUGE secret like; flying across an ocean, or planning a huge birthday, OR just a simple dinner to tell someone that it was all done to see a reaction on their face. I have been surprised by wonderful friends now twice from America. One was last October when my mum told my sister and I that there was a surprise in our room like new curtains or something (which never happens and still has never happened) so mum was recording, not that weird as she told us there was a ‘surprise’, so as we get up from the kitchen table, our dearest friend strolls around the corner. I saw her first and squealed with shock, excitement, confusion, surprise. And my sister who heard me scream, not seeing her yet, screamed. Then screamed again when seeing our friend. This was all caught on camera and was an awesome surprise.

The other surprise I’ve had was when my parents drove our family to the airport for no reason. We guessed when we saw a sign for ‘arrivals’ that we were picking someone up. BUT WHO!? That excitement was a whole other level. We were guessing and guessing yet my parents kept straight faces casually glancing to each other from the side of their eyes with glee in their eyes as their 4 crazy random kissed threw out names like a register.

As we cautiously and expectantly waited at those double doors with the bright yellow ‘arrivals’ sign above, we couldn’t wait to see who came from those doors. Once again we were shocked! Not only that our BFF came to surprise us. But. That she was staying for FOUR MONTHS!

It was awesome.

So as I said. I love surprises.

Anyway, as we flew across the ocean. Had some really bad food at Chicago airport for our layover. (Seriously it was some deli style sandwich with soggy sour bread and a hunk full of meat with sweet peppers that tasted like antibacterial wipes!) We could not wipe smiles off our faces. Our diligent friend picked us up and we drove the hour more distance to the small town in Western PA to knock on people’s doors at 9:00pm and confuse them all! In each surprise the shrieks, the silences, the questions, the jaw drops, the laughs were so totally worth it! Everyone was amazed we came for such a short time to celebrate a special day with a dear friend and enjoy the amazing company with such a hilarious crew that I have known for my whole life and continue to make memories with. We only stayed with our friends for 3 days and then spent time with our grandparents who lived about an hour away from there.

Here are the ones we surprised!

Boy did we cram a lot into a short space of time! On the Saturday about 13 of us went to our famous, novelty breakfast joint then went to the shower (which was a Steelers Tailgating theme!) then went for coffee at again a novelty visit we do every time we are there. Then to Subs n Suds for Pizza and wings to then go for Ice cream on a frosty October evening. Each of the places we went hold such weighty memories of years and years of late night, early mornings, even all nighters hanging with friends. Friends who are so close to me, even though an ocean, time zone and a bit of land are sandwiched between us.

So there we have it. What I did in my October Half Term.

Em :)

Orange, Brown, Autumn has arrived!

As I was walking to college today, and through the park I realised it's happened.

Autumn has arrived and I couldn't be happier for it to envelope our lives for a few short months!

It is my favourite. The brown leaves, the hot drinks wrapping up in warm, neutral colours.sigh..I love it!

I also am looking forward to the months ahead. There are many exciting things happening (like my birthday next month) which I can't tell you yet on here but I will closer to the time! 

Have a wonderful week and hopefully I will be back soon writing more! 

Em

31 Facts.

So I have been blogging for a while and I think its time to tell you some random facts about myself! Hope you enjoy them and understand them all :)

1. I love making people laugh

2. I love fashion and all to do with it yet don’t make a big enough effort to dress like I care (or the money to afford it!)

3. I have an irrational fear of all animals. ALL animals.

4. But I want to ride an Elephant and stroke a Giraffe.

5. I want to and WILL climb Machu Picchu in Peru.

6. I can be very indecisive when it comes to food, I never know what to get and freak out.

7. I love going to the Theatre

8. I love watching something then breaking it down to understand it deeper.

9. Favourite movies are: Safety not guaranteed, 500 days of Summer and Drive.

10. I am 5’11 but would love to be 6 foot

11.I always have my nails painted and own over 60 different nail polishes.

12. I want to travel the world!

13. Even though I don’t like animals I collect animal necklaces, I have; a bear, butterfly, elephant, fish, fly, owl and more!

14. I am a gymnastics coach and have been for over 3 years now.

15. I have big dreams for the future, and I know if I stick to it I can achieve it.

16. I am a clean freak. I feel disorganized if my surroundings are messy. My room is always clean

17. I enjoy cleaning and organising. A LOT

18. I have this weird thing that if someone touches one arm or side of my body, they HAVE to touch the other, I like to be symmetrical, and it really bothers me and I notice it if I am not.

19. I am really good at hairstyles and enjoy styling it.

20. I am a really awkward person in some situations. Ha I make it worse and feel awkward at really awkward times.

21. Really shy people make me feel awkward, as I never know what to say to make them talk! But I always seem to get them to talk in the end!

22. I am very outgoing and love people, meeting new people and I am very personable, always having time for everyone

23.I am spontaneous, I always want to try new experiences and go to new places.

24. I over think situations a lot and think of all possibilities.

25. I love baking, and cooking in general. I have a GCSE in Catering

26. My best friends are my siblings

27. When my family are together we are loud, hilarious and have fun!

28. We have always had an open home, I would love to carry that on when I am older and be very hospitable to people.

29. 29 is my favourite number!

30. Funniest people I know are my family.

31. I want to be a TV Presenter

So that is 31 really random facts about myself and I hope you enjoy now knowing a little bit more about me!

Em

Why Worry?

So, this week has been busy, to some they would say stressful but I don't like that word as you can always overcome stress with a balance of relaxation, friends and of course, food. I had a wonderful weekend with friends it was so fun and eventful. We have a lot of people staying with us this week and something going on every night so it has been very busy, but LOADS of fun! 

Yet monday morning rolls around and I have essay after essay, some due in for that same week. But why stress? How will that solve anything? This is one thing I am learning to do as I am normally so anxious, always stressing about getting things done in time or if something it is good enough. But I need a balance. Balance is good. I think. So yeah I have had a fun week, but I have also really cracked down and worked hard. Is my work done? No. Will it be done in time? Yes. 

I am a sort of person who rarely leaves things to the last minute and is very organised so I will be fine. 

Ok thats it. 

Sometimes you have to put life in perspective. Then, and only then do you realise what is important to you.

Em

Remember Remember the Eighth of September

Talk about hard goodbyes. We drove to the hospital the night before her operation. It was unsettling as we were saying goodbye but we knew we would see her again. It had to be short, which made it even harder, we had to go in one at a time. As we took the elevator down after saying our 'goodbyes' I couldn't help but cry. We started to walk out and were met by our Pastor and another Pastor from India (who is with us right now! Exactly 2 years later) I met him for the first time crying my eyes out! They comforted us separately and I can't remember what they said exactly but it was what I needed to hear! 

On the journey home we posted on Facebook to pray for Naomi, and this I remember so clearly. It was extraordinary and I don't think our Facebook friends realise! 

As we drove home We were checking our Facebook and our ENTIRE NEWS FEED was FILLED with posts about Naomi and praying for her and us. I remember this so clearly as I was reading them out in the car and we all were just amazed and crying a crazy amount! Name after name, comment after comment it built us up and encouraged us more! People who we didn't know would comment on friends post about how they were praying. 

To all who are reading this and posted about Naomi that night thank you. You may never have realised how much it meant to us but it did. What everyone wrote was beautiful and uplifting and made our family feel SO loved! I remember dad saying he couldn't drive as his eyes were filled with water and couldn't see anything! The whole car was a complete CRY FEST! 
Words cannot describe what it was like reading everything from ALL over the world (literally) about Naomi and us. 

As I went to bed that night I felt lonely as I normally share a room with Nay and I couldn't stop thinking about her in a hospital and me in our room. It didn't seem right. 

I awoke that morning to our dear friend and her daughter at the door with breakfast for Nathanel and I. Mum and dad were at the hospital and Verity had to work. Those small acts of kindness really speak loudly. As it was just two of us we didn't really know what to do and it was nice to see our friend with Starbucks coffee and a muffin! 
 I took the day off school as I probably wouldn't have concentrated at all and, at times like these you want to be surrounded by family. 
To be honest I can't remember what I did that day as I didn't know what to do. I mean what ARE you supposed to do when your sister is in a 12 hour operation? Well me and Bud (brother) did what we knew. We prayed we worshipped we spent time with God and waited. A lot of calls to mum and dad for any update and there wasn't. 
The strangest and hardest thing about the day was knowing that while you are at home, there is serious surgery being done not too far away for your sister. And that was hard, I couldn't help but think what part of the surgery they were up to or what they were doing at that exact time.
And it made me think, everyday we enter, somewhere someone is in the same position as me. Waiting, waiting for news about a dear person, who may be in surgery. It happens everyday, so much happens that we don't think about.

Anyway as time rushed by without our notice, Verity got home and we did what we knew to do. At 5 we got a call from Mum who said that as her and dad were pacing corridors waiting they just had to ask a nurse to see if all was ok. I mean 9 hours later and no news? She had to know something, so the nurse went away and came back telling her that Dr M said " tell her not to worry! I told her if she doesn't see me then that means all is well. She does not  have to worry everything is fine" those simple disjointed words were such relief! SHE WAS FINE! Not done, but fine. And for that time, that was enough. 

That night at 8:04pm we got the call. "Naomi has come out of the operation all is well, the doctor saved all of her nerves, she is fine" umm so that equals the BEST NEWS EVER!! 
We were able to see her that night two hours after the operation so our pastor came over who would then drive us to the hospital at 10, which turned into 11pm. 
Anyway it was just us 3 at home and we were told to ring everyone and let them know. That was a joyful experience with the amount of tears and joy over the phone, it was ecstatic and all were so pleased to hear. 
As there was no food in our house we ordered Dominos and ate it with our pastor. 
We drove to the hospital and the next hour was the hardest hour of my life.

It was strange, and really there are no words but I will try my best. She was in a different place and we weren't allowed to see her straight away. We were greeted by our parents who told us all they knew, and then they told us that we will be going in one at a time to see her. We would need to wash our hands and wear a throwaway apron as the place we were going was for serious patients, and there were only three people in that ward, they didn't want disease or bacteria to spread. 
So Verity went in. Nathanael went in. Then I went in.

If anyone knows me they know that I cry, a lot. Dad told us to try not to cry in front of her but be supportive and encouraging. As I waited to see her I did not know what to expect.

So I walked up the corridor, my heart in my throat. I washed my hands, put on the apron and then Dad opened the door. I saw her. Lying there. Not being able to move. I glanced around. Saw what she was wired up to. And turned away and burst into tears. Dad tried to push me in, but I needed a minute. I normally can just pull it altogether, but I couldn't this time. 
All I saw was a half shaven head, a beautiful, young girl listening to her siblings and then around her this white, sterile, white room. Emphasis on the white as it was dully clean and hospital like. The kind you see in movies, that they put on, but no. SHe was hooked up to everything imaginable, the beeping sound and everything. 

As I turned and sobbed, you can understand the need for a 15 year old girl to 'take a minute'. I sucked it up as I knew I had to and 'thought' I would cry no more. I took a deep breath and entered. Because of the 12 hour operation she couldn't turn her head to the right  I held her hand tightly rambling on to her about things I can't remember. The nurses surprisingly let all 3 of her siblings to surround her and talk. We laughed, encouraged her, made jokes, what we always do. But she was tired and at this point it was about 12pm so we had to be quick. The nurse came round and checked her so often an thats when it hit me, that I am standing around a hospital patient who is my sister. I NEVER thought I would be in this position BUT I had (and have) Grace for every situation life throws our way.
So I was fine, my cry turned into small whimpers as I tried to hold in my tears. But the moment that stopped me and seriously flipped everything around was when we had to go.

As I type this I am tearing up just remembering this unforgettable moment. We had to go, I was holding her hand. I gave her a gentle, light hug and was ready to go when she clutched my hand so tightly whispering
"Please don't leave"

Don't leave. I turned to look at her and broke down into a puddle of tears. It hit me that she would have to stay in this sterile, white, beeping room all night, alone. It pained me to leave, I love her, she is my sister, my best friend, I would have done anything to take her place. 

After a prolonged goodbye we left. It was the hardest goodbye. I knew I was going home to our room and she would not be there.

She didn't remember anything from that night. It is always good to remember it as it was a poignant moment that won't be forgotten. 
The Eighth of September 2011.

From Facebook, the day we saw her after the operation.

Heads Up

Hello! So my sister has a blog: http://naomimay19.blogspot.co.uk 

And it is about her journey two years ago when she had a brain tumour.You can read all about it on her blog. 

She asked me to write a post about the day of her operation and when we saw her that night as she doesnt remember what happened. So I am featured on her blog over there, but I thought I would post the same post over here so you can all read about this very personal and emotional event for our family.

Hope you enjoy it! And it is very long so I will post it separately to this! 

Here are some pics from when she was in hospital:

Em