Summer Ball

Following the success of the Christmas formal and the fact that women love to have an occasion to dress up, my friend Alison & I organised a summer ball at this posh hotel just outside of Wrexham. 45 of us turned up, all decked out in our best dresses and suits and had a wonderful evening of eating, socialising and dancing!

It was a wonderful evening and everyone of the women looked so beautiful in their dresses. We had pictures taken at the beginning of the evening so that we can remember the fun we had. Carl & I had a great evening and I'm looking forward to organising another one at some point. It's just an excuse to get really dressed up and have a chance to wear all those smart clothes that you have no other reason to wear at any other point!

Scotland

Just returned from my first ever trip to Scotland. Yes, I have lived in the UK for most of my life (with the exception of the 5 years I was in Toronto) and never been north of Whitby. Shocking.

So I had the priviledge of accompanying my friends Ziz (who is from Scotland) and her boyfriend (now fiancee) Garan to experience the great north of the UK. Carl came with me too and we had an amazing week together. Whilst the rest of the country was complaining about the heat because of the heatwave that hit the UK, we were quite cool up in Dornoch (where we stayed). We stayed in a mobile home (or trailer to you canadians) which was a 2 minute walk across sand dunes to the beach and spent a lot of time just hanging out, either on the beach, in the village (where apparently Madonna got married) or in our accommodation.

We went to Inverness, John O'Groats (the most northerly point of the UK), went around a Scottish castle, visited a whiskey distillery and saw a waterfall where we saw the salmon jumping. Not bad for a 'relaxing' holiday!

Our friends Garan & Ziz got engaged during the holiday so it all turned into a bit of a celebration. Now I can cross Scotland off my 'must visit' list! Now all I have to do is go to Northern Ireland and I would have been to every country in the UK.

In 3 weeks I head off to the Lake District (another part of the country I have never been to) for our church holiday. One thing you can say - my life is never boring!

No place like home

Just come back from a weekend away in Devon visiting my family and I took Carl to 'meet the parents'. Actually the main aim of the weekend was to get away and have a break from life, and it just happened that Devon seemed to be the nicest place to get away to.

And it was a perfect weekend - the sun was shining so I took Carl to the beach to show him what real beaches look like. I live about 45 minutes from the nearest beach in North Wales, which is Prestatyn, and the water looks brown and has lots of rubbish floating in it. Not very appealing to put your feet in - I think I would be worried about what I might catch! So I had to show Carl what the beaches are like in Devon so that he could see why I love the beach so much. I took him body boarding which was a lot of fun but the water was really cold. He got under straight away whilst I took about half an hour to get in slowly, before he came up to me and 'tripped' me up so I would actually get under - how nice of him.....!

It's true that they say there is no place like home. I feel like I have lots of places I call home, but I have to say Wrexham really does feel like my real home and I love coming back here after being away. I'm so glad that God bought me to Wrexham - I have to say that I have never regretted my decision to move here so am looking forward to what the future brings.

All good things come to an end

It's my last afternoon in Canada and I'm sat at work! What a nice way to enjoy my last few hours! However, I've had a great time with my wonderful friends but am looking forward to returning to Wales tomorrow morning.
I finally went to TACF Central yesterday evening - it's the 'new' young adult church plant that started just after I left that I've been hearing about constantly - and it was so good. I had all my favourite Canadian people in one place! We went out for a drink & food afterwards (it was very interesting trying to organise like 20 people to one place!!) and I got to catch up with more people. The highlight of my evening was being asked for I.D. when I bought a drink. For a 29 year old that's quite impressive (the legal drinking age is 19 over here). I told the bar staff I was flattered!!!

Must go....got to eat!

The effects of too many late nights

After working 16 hour days for 3 days in a row you can forgive people if they appear to be a bit weird. I mean, look at the following photos I took of the team in Abbotsford - and I have to work with these people....











Yeah, we're all a bit strange -but that's what happens when you lack sleep.....

On the road again

After 3 flights and gaining an extra 8 hours in the past 3 days I've now arrived in British Colombia, Western Canada - Abbotsford to be precise. It's situated in the Rocky Mountains and we're staying at this amazing retreat centre with views of the mountains in the distance. It's like heaven....and I get paid to do this?!! I'd be mad to want to change jobs eh?!

So being back in Canada is great (although I wouldn't want to move back). I've gone on the subway, shopped at the Eaton Centre, eaten poutine, taken a trip to Port Credit, eaten at Pho Mi 99 - the Vietmaniese restaurant that was a regular for a lot of my friends when I lived in Toronto - been out for drink in Bloor West Village, drunk a Bellini at Milestones (the BEST cocktail in the world) and eaten at Swiss Chalet. And that was all in 3 days in Toronto!! I've got a whole week in Toronto when I've finished the conference in B.C. and my problem is I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Ohhhh how I miss Toronto sometimes and all the memories I have made there. But of course, I'm looking forward to returning to Wales....mainly because of a special someone who is waiting for me to return :)

Am sure I will write more in the next few days - it's going to be a busy week but as the weather here is gorgeous we're planning on having at least a couple hours a day sunbathing (but there is no pool here this time!). Hopefully I'll go back to the UK with a nice suntan!!

The adventure continues

Rather than enjoying my hectic travelling schedule, I began to resent being away so much and kind of lost focus on why and what on earth I was doing it all for anyway. Not a good place to be I guess when you spend most weekends on the road, travelling to new and interesting (sometimes) places!

I used to love travelling, seeing it as an adventure and a break from the norm, so always wanted a job that would involve me travelling lots. So I have my dream job and all I can do now is complain! Something had to change. So I got time to re-focus on life last week, realising that if I had a job that meant I had to stay in the same place all the time I would quickly lose my sanity and crave the adventure of going to new places. So now, instead of seeing the travelling as 'oh no, not another 3 days away from home' I see it as another adventure, another challenge, another way to make the most of my life. And it works (for the most part)! I've just got back from a weekend away and although I did rush back home, I still enjoyed my time away and loved what I did. I got to speak at a youth event for around 50 youth. I enjoyed it - I had fun when I was speaking and that made all the difference.

So now, my next big adventure is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and then in fact to the other side of Canada to Abbotsford B.C. where I have never been before. But the best part is getting to see all my amazing friends in Toronto for a whole week. That's what I'm looking forward to!