...how crazy is that? How crazy is it that I'm spending the last months of this year and the first months of 2010 in England? Let me tell you about my day...
Slept through my alarm and got up at 7:36am. Showered and got ready and missed breakfast. Got to the dining hall for work at 8:20am. (Thankfully there was leftover fruit!) Worked from 8:30am-2:15pm. (stopping for staff break and lunch)
For free time, I checked email quickly then got ready to go for a walk/jog. I wore leggings under shorts and a short sleeve shirt. I thought it would be okay because i would just get hot after jogging. Well...i began and was pretty cold, but kept going. After about 5 minutes, my hands and arms were completely numb and turning bright red. It felt like wind burn because there was a super cold wind. I kept going and what happens? IT STARTS TO SNOW!!!!! Yeah, that's how cold it was. But I was kinda in a zone, thinking three things:
1. I can't believe how cool this is that I'm in England.
2. I feel like I could just run across all of England right now and just go home.
3. I'm sure it will stop snowing soon.
Smart choice. NOT. But, I don't know...I was in an overly enthusiastic/desperately homesick zone, so I kept going. I was on a road by train tracks, passing stone houses, sheep fields, horses, etc. Well, the snow just got heavier to the point that i had to squint to see where I was going, and I couldn't see very far because it was so white! I was SOOOO cold that i put my arms inside my shirt (which must have looked super dorky) and kept going. Eventually I turned around and the snow trickled down to a few blowing flakes. But it was so strange to look over the vast fields and hills that were green when I began my walk, and now looked frosted!
I made it back to school, with very numb and red arms and legs and took a hot shower. :)
I worked it out that I had gone about 4 miles...only about one mile of that was i actually jogging.
Oh well, it still felt good!
I helped serve a fancy dinner for the guests and then washed the dishes until 8:30pm. Now a couple of us are planning on doing an all-nighter (not gonna happen...) by watching movies and playing games and whatever. I know school is having a celidh (Scottish dance) at 12:30am, then refreshments at 1:30am. So...it'll be a fun night. Deborah and I sneaked some shortbread at coffee break, so we have some sugar for later. HAHA
Happy new year, everyone!
It is amazing to think over all that has happened to me this past year! But that's a whole other post... ;) I'll write about it later.
Comment if you read this. hehe
miss you all!~
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
WORK it out.
Yesterday I came back to school, where I will work for the rest of break. They have two different groups of guests come...one group over Christmas and one over New Years. Yesterday the first group left and the second came, so I worked in housekeeping in the morning...cleaning all the rooms to get them ready for the new guests. Then at night I worked in the kitchen, where I will be for the rest of the time. I'm going to give you a quick outline of today (which is pretty much what each day will look like):
7am-wake up and shower
8am-staff breakfast for us
8:30-guest breakfast, during this time I am doing the dishes from staff breakfast and then guest dishes...there are 3 of us on the team, so we are doing breakfast dishes from 8:30-10am.
10am-staff break
10:30-12--cleaning up dishes from staff break/scrubbing the floor/cleaning refrigerator
12pm-staff lunch
1pm-guest lunch
1-2:15ish-cleaning up from lunch
**break from 2:15 until dinner at 5pm**
then dishes from 5:30-at least 8pm.
It is so exhausting being on my feet for so long! But, I would rather be doing the dishes than cleaning, I think. So it's all good. Just tiring. I'm ready to collapse after lunch, but that's when I have to get stuff done or go see Josh, so I don't usually take naps.
Oh well...it's been good getting to know the staff and the students here more! Plus, I have 5 new roommates for this time, so that's fun.
Yep, so that's what i'll be doing until January 9th!
7am-wake up and shower
8am-staff breakfast for us
8:30-guest breakfast, during this time I am doing the dishes from staff breakfast and then guest dishes...there are 3 of us on the team, so we are doing breakfast dishes from 8:30-10am.
10am-staff break
10:30-12--cleaning up dishes from staff break/scrubbing the floor/cleaning refrigerator
12pm-staff lunch
1pm-guest lunch
1-2:15ish-cleaning up from lunch
**break from 2:15 until dinner at 5pm**
then dishes from 5:30-at least 8pm.
It is so exhausting being on my feet for so long! But, I would rather be doing the dishes than cleaning, I think. So it's all good. Just tiring. I'm ready to collapse after lunch, but that's when I have to get stuff done or go see Josh, so I don't usually take naps.
Oh well...it's been good getting to know the staff and the students here more! Plus, I have 5 new roommates for this time, so that's fun.
Yep, so that's what i'll be doing until January 9th!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Christmas Eve Eve
I can't even believe how fast time is going! It seems like I just started school here and now first term is done and tomorrow is Christmas Eve! School ended on the 18th and on the 19th I came over to Josh's house, where I'm staying for the first 10 days of break. His family is SO sweet and i can't tell you how nice it has been to be in a real home with a family and have my own room as opposed to socializing 24/7 in a room with 5 roommates. It has been great so far!
Today Josh and I and his Aunt drove to Morecambe, which is on the coast, but only like 20 minutes away. It was an adorable little town! I LOVED it. It actually reminded me a lot of Duluth, with the little shops and walks along the water and creepy seagulls. haha We stopped at the Midland Hotel for drinks. They got coffee and I got water...with ICE!!! it was pretty exciting. :)
Then we drove to Boatley Sands (another little town) and got lunch at a pub where Josh used to work. His aunt and I split a veggie burger and chips (fries). Super delicious.
We came home and Josh and I wrapped presents and now he is having "man time" (aka: listening to Harry Potter in his room while he draws) and I can catch up on my blog! hehe
Hope you are all having a great Christmas season! I miss you all.
<3 sarai
Today Josh and I and his Aunt drove to Morecambe, which is on the coast, but only like 20 minutes away. It was an adorable little town! I LOVED it. It actually reminded me a lot of Duluth, with the little shops and walks along the water and creepy seagulls. haha We stopped at the Midland Hotel for drinks. They got coffee and I got water...with ICE!!! it was pretty exciting. :)
Then we drove to Boatley Sands (another little town) and got lunch at a pub where Josh used to work. His aunt and I split a veggie burger and chips (fries). Super delicious.
We came home and Josh and I wrapped presents and now he is having "man time" (aka: listening to Harry Potter in his room while he draws) and I can catch up on my blog! hehe
Hope you are all having a great Christmas season! I miss you all.
<3 sarai
Monday, December 14, 2009
Mamma Mia::here i go again!
This will be a shorter post just to tell about the eventful past 24 hours I've had...
Last night, my roommates and I decided to finish watching Mamma Mia (which we had started the day before), so we started it at about 10:30pm, but somewhere around 11pm, Sarah decided she should go back to her room in the castle, considering they lock the doors at 10:45pm...((thank goodness for knowing the codes!)) Carol and I walked her back to the castle then came back to our room and we all had a dance party! We were just going crazy and having fun and I put on a party mask and hat that was left over from Cally's birthday. One thing led to another and eventually Cally, Jenna, Marie and I all had on party masks, scarves over our heads, and wellies over our pajamas and we decided to sneak into the castle. We had heard that Sarah's room was going to sleep in the quiet room, so we went through the laundry room door, down the dark hallways and peeked into the quiet room, slightly scaring everyone in there. Sarah came out and we just laughed and talked and danced down the dark castle hallways, took pictures, and very possibly may have slid down some banisters...but you didn't hear that from me. We got back to our room at 12:30am and peacefully went to sleep...
...until I was woken up at 5:30am because of pain on my nose. I realized that I accidentally scratched my nose and pulled out the nose ring! I freaked out and ran to the bathroom to try to get it back in. I think the hole had partly closed, so I ended up like re-piercing part of my nose with a normal earring from my ear.But nose rings are much different from normal earrings, because they like twist around and it's like you have to screw it in almost...it's super hard. But after an HOUR of trying to get in the nose ring, i could not!!! It was really nerve-wracking and I got really light-headed and a bad stomach ache and seriously thought I was going to faint, so I dropped to the bathroom floor. After unsuccessfully trying for an hour to get the earring back in, I just went back to bed. Slept through breakfast, eventually got up and finally got the nose ring back in. =]]] it was a scary and traumatizing experience, but with a happy ending.
...then the hard part was going to 4 lectures after about 5 hours of sleep and no breakfast...yay.
so that's my grand casino story. haha
have a great week, everyone!
comment if you still read this. =]
Last night, my roommates and I decided to finish watching Mamma Mia (which we had started the day before), so we started it at about 10:30pm, but somewhere around 11pm, Sarah decided she should go back to her room in the castle, considering they lock the doors at 10:45pm...((thank goodness for knowing the codes!)) Carol and I walked her back to the castle then came back to our room and we all had a dance party! We were just going crazy and having fun and I put on a party mask and hat that was left over from Cally's birthday. One thing led to another and eventually Cally, Jenna, Marie and I all had on party masks, scarves over our heads, and wellies over our pajamas and we decided to sneak into the castle. We had heard that Sarah's room was going to sleep in the quiet room, so we went through the laundry room door, down the dark hallways and peeked into the quiet room, slightly scaring everyone in there. Sarah came out and we just laughed and talked and danced down the dark castle hallways, took pictures, and very possibly may have slid down some banisters...but you didn't hear that from me. We got back to our room at 12:30am and peacefully went to sleep...
...until I was woken up at 5:30am because of pain on my nose. I realized that I accidentally scratched my nose and pulled out the nose ring! I freaked out and ran to the bathroom to try to get it back in. I think the hole had partly closed, so I ended up like re-piercing part of my nose with a normal earring from my ear.But nose rings are much different from normal earrings, because they like twist around and it's like you have to screw it in almost...it's super hard. But after an HOUR of trying to get in the nose ring, i could not!!! It was really nerve-wracking and I got really light-headed and a bad stomach ache and seriously thought I was going to faint, so I dropped to the bathroom floor. After unsuccessfully trying for an hour to get the earring back in, I just went back to bed. Slept through breakfast, eventually got up and finally got the nose ring back in. =]]] it was a scary and traumatizing experience, but with a happy ending.
...then the hard part was going to 4 lectures after about 5 hours of sleep and no breakfast...yay.
so that's my grand casino story. haha
have a great week, everyone!
comment if you still read this. =]
Friday, December 11, 2009
can we be bam-bam and pebbles?
Bonjour!
I don't really have much to write about, but I'm going to write whatever random comes to my mind, so bear with me. :)
*My friend, Kareen from Israel has taught me some Arabic! It's pretty cool, i know how to say green, red, yellow, pink, hello, how are you, i love you, and sweetheart. :)
*My roommates and I just made a run to the vending machine to get food, and they set their stuff by me and left...so now I'm sitting surrounded by candy, 2 bags of chips and 2 pepsi's. niiiiice.
*Today was work day...every work day, Sarah and I have as our "shloopy" days, so we wear boring outfits. Well, we rocked at our duties and finished early and were sick of being shloopy, so we ran to the room and put together cute outfits/jewelry/makeup/hair in the 50 minutes before lunch. SUCCESS! haha Now we feel much happier and today is a good day.
*Tonight is a bonfire/singing Christmas carols
*here is the music I'm obsessed with since being here: Queen, MJ, Journey, Bryan Adams. Ah, gotta love the oldies.
*Made a grand discovery/connection the other day...i won't tell you what it was, because you'll think I'm stupid for not putting this together sooner...but it had to do with Apple computers and Mac standing for Macintosh... ;)
*Josh and I have a tradition, that whenever we go on a walk around the loop and get to the bridge, we play Pooh Sticks! We each get a stick and throw it into the river on one side, then run to the other side and see whose stick comes out first! HAHA I usually win...
*On Sunday, my family group is going to go to our "parents" house and make Christmas cookies and watch a Christmas movie. =]
*Names of affection that our room calls each other: pumpkin seed, turkey muffin, sugar plum, pickle face...
*OH! and Sarah and I have nicknames for eachother, but when we say them, we say them with a lisp:
Sarah Thesaurus and
Sarai Wilberforce
*The lectures this week are on Abraham, and it gets slightly awkward hearing them talk about Sarai, the barren, old wife and having people chuckle and look back at me. HAHA I've heard some pretty good new Sarai jokes...especially when I'm hanging out with Sarah ("Hey, it's the girl God loved, and then the one He didn't!" "LOOK! "Before" and "after" are hanging out!") Then there are the old ones...("So, when are you going to change your name?" "Have you found Abram yet?")
*I really need to start writing more poetry while I'm here...
*We found out about some ruins around here that are apparently REALLY cool. I guess it's an old tower, surrounded by WILD HORSES!!! We are going to try to see it tomorrow..
*I can't believe it's almost half-way through December! So crazy...
That's about it for now, or else my brain will turn into stir fry.
ew.
That was uncalled for, Sarai.
**peace, trust and pixie dust**
I don't really have much to write about, but I'm going to write whatever random comes to my mind, so bear with me. :)
*My friend, Kareen from Israel has taught me some Arabic! It's pretty cool, i know how to say green, red, yellow, pink, hello, how are you, i love you, and sweetheart. :)
*My roommates and I just made a run to the vending machine to get food, and they set their stuff by me and left...so now I'm sitting surrounded by candy, 2 bags of chips and 2 pepsi's. niiiiice.
*Today was work day...every work day, Sarah and I have as our "shloopy" days, so we wear boring outfits. Well, we rocked at our duties and finished early and were sick of being shloopy, so we ran to the room and put together cute outfits/jewelry/makeup/hair in the 50 minutes before lunch. SUCCESS! haha Now we feel much happier and today is a good day.
*Tonight is a bonfire/singing Christmas carols
*here is the music I'm obsessed with since being here: Queen, MJ, Journey, Bryan Adams. Ah, gotta love the oldies.
*Made a grand discovery/connection the other day...i won't tell you what it was, because you'll think I'm stupid for not putting this together sooner...but it had to do with Apple computers and Mac standing for Macintosh... ;)
*Josh and I have a tradition, that whenever we go on a walk around the loop and get to the bridge, we play Pooh Sticks! We each get a stick and throw it into the river on one side, then run to the other side and see whose stick comes out first! HAHA I usually win...
*On Sunday, my family group is going to go to our "parents" house and make Christmas cookies and watch a Christmas movie. =]
*Names of affection that our room calls each other: pumpkin seed, turkey muffin, sugar plum, pickle face...
*OH! and Sarah and I have nicknames for eachother, but when we say them, we say them with a lisp:
Sarah Thesaurus and
Sarai Wilberforce
*The lectures this week are on Abraham, and it gets slightly awkward hearing them talk about Sarai, the barren, old wife and having people chuckle and look back at me. HAHA I've heard some pretty good new Sarai jokes...especially when I'm hanging out with Sarah ("Hey, it's the girl God loved, and then the one He didn't!" "LOOK! "Before" and "after" are hanging out!") Then there are the old ones...("So, when are you going to change your name?" "Have you found Abram yet?")
*I really need to start writing more poetry while I'm here...
*We found out about some ruins around here that are apparently REALLY cool. I guess it's an old tower, surrounded by WILD HORSES!!! We are going to try to see it tomorrow..
*I can't believe it's almost half-way through December! So crazy...
That's about it for now, or else my brain will turn into stir fry.
ew.
That was uncalled for, Sarai.
**peace, trust and pixie dust**
Monday, December 7, 2009
[[another day of drizzle]]
hey friends!
It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here, which makes me miss home a bit. Carnforth has cute Christmas trees and decorations up and down the main street,,,the wind is getting stronger,,,air is colder,,,and the ground is frostier. No snow, though. I can't believe that Christmas break starts in 11 days and then I'm halfway done with school over here! Time goes so fast. So many people are talking about how excited they are to go home for Christmas, and making lists of the first things they will do at home. It gets hard to listen to, considering I won't see my family, friends, home, or country until April. =/ But I'm happy for them and I know I'll still have a great Christmas. :)
*Last week we finished our last assignment until after Christmas break, so that's really nice!
*Yesterday we had an advent service in the lounge, where we sang Christmas carols and had representatives from different countries (Israel, Romania, Korea, and Iceland) read a passage from Isaiah and tell us about Christmas in their country. It was SO cool.
*On Wednesday, I am going on an outreach with a team of about 12-15 people to do a Christmas program for 60-80 year olds at a church in Preston. We each have a part, and mine is to do a brief talk on Christmas Carols. It sounds like it will be fun. I love stuff like that...gets me more excited for Christmas. :)
*Speaking of, last night Josh and I went to his house and decorated their Christmas tree with his parents! It was SOOO much fun and so nice to be in a home with a family. =]
*Last night, Josh left to go to the hospital in London for an appointment about his shoulder. He's not sure what they are going to do, but they might need to operate...so if you could pray that it will go well, that'd be great. Hopefully he'll be back in 4 days.
Not much else is new here...we have a team that is going to travel to a bunch of churches doing a Christmas show and their first one is tonight! Pray that it would be a blessing in the churches and that they would get the Gospel message across to many people.
Hope you are all doing well this Christmas season!
Love and miss you all.
<3 sarai
It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here, which makes me miss home a bit. Carnforth has cute Christmas trees and decorations up and down the main street,,,the wind is getting stronger,,,air is colder,,,and the ground is frostier. No snow, though. I can't believe that Christmas break starts in 11 days and then I'm halfway done with school over here! Time goes so fast. So many people are talking about how excited they are to go home for Christmas, and making lists of the first things they will do at home. It gets hard to listen to, considering I won't see my family, friends, home, or country until April. =/ But I'm happy for them and I know I'll still have a great Christmas. :)
*Last week we finished our last assignment until after Christmas break, so that's really nice!
*Yesterday we had an advent service in the lounge, where we sang Christmas carols and had representatives from different countries (Israel, Romania, Korea, and Iceland) read a passage from Isaiah and tell us about Christmas in their country. It was SO cool.
*On Wednesday, I am going on an outreach with a team of about 12-15 people to do a Christmas program for 60-80 year olds at a church in Preston. We each have a part, and mine is to do a brief talk on Christmas Carols. It sounds like it will be fun. I love stuff like that...gets me more excited for Christmas. :)
*Speaking of, last night Josh and I went to his house and decorated their Christmas tree with his parents! It was SOOO much fun and so nice to be in a home with a family. =]
*Last night, Josh left to go to the hospital in London for an appointment about his shoulder. He's not sure what they are going to do, but they might need to operate...so if you could pray that it will go well, that'd be great. Hopefully he'll be back in 4 days.
Not much else is new here...we have a team that is going to travel to a bunch of churches doing a Christmas show and their first one is tonight! Pray that it would be a blessing in the churches and that they would get the Gospel message across to many people.
Hope you are all doing well this Christmas season!
Love and miss you all.
<3 sarai
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
+storytime+
So, as many of you have heard from facebook or emails....
I AM NOW IN A RELATIONSHIP!
:) :) :) :)
Since many people are asking all about it, I decided to just write the story here, where you can all read it, because that saves me a lot of time writing personal messages to all of you. haha
Do you want to hear the story?
...that's what I thought. ;)
Soooo....once upon a time....
just kidding.
On the first day of school I met a guy named Josh.
He lives in England (actually, he lives just across the street from school because his dad works at school) and therefore, he has an amazing British accent. :) Well, we became good friends and started hanging out a lot every day...playing cards, ping-pong, going on walks, or just hanging out talking or teasing each other. People were asking us if anything was going on WAY before it was, just because we were always together. Well, it seemed like he liked me and I was starting to like him, and then the night before I left for travel weekend in Edinburgh (beginning of November...he didn't go to Edinburgh) Josh and I went on a walk. We confirmed that we both liked each other, but both decided that we should take some time to think and pray about whether or not we should do anything about it. I really felt good about that decision, because we both acknowledged that neither of us came here to get into a relationship, but to focus on God. I totally came to the point of, "I know I am here for God and that He is my main focus...so if I don't date Josh, that's fine, because God is all I need to be satisfied...and if we do start dating, that's fine, too because I know God is in control and this is in His will." The time that we took off to think and pray was really good, in that sure, I thought about it...but I didn't dwell on it or let it consume my time. I prayed about it...but that God's will would be done, not mine.
We continued hanging out as friends until...
Saturday, November 21st. School had a costume party. I borrowed Josh's clothes (and dressed up like a nerd) and the party was VERY fun. Afterward, Josh asked me to play ping-pong, so we did and then he asked if i wanted to go on a walk. We went outside...it was a chilly but clear night. He said he had somewhere special to show me and brought me out by the barn and told me to look up. We could see SOOO many stars!!! It was so beautiful. We just stayed out and looked at the stars and talked, and then he mentioned that he wanted to discuss what we had discussed earlier. He said that after thinking and praying about it a lot, he kinda expected God to give him a black and white, yes or no answer of YES, YOU SHOULD DATE SARAI or NO, DO NOT DATE HER! But he said the more he's prayed, the more he feels like God is saying, "This has the potential to work out or not, but you have to make the choice yourself and step up and make a decision." And he said that the more he's thought about it, the more he feels it would be right and wants to date me. :) I felt the same way and we officially became the first Capernwray couple! haha
Of course, there is so much more behind it all, such as many conversations about the logistics of dating here, what we will do after, etc. He talked to my dad and we both met with the couple in charge of Pastoral Care here. So far, I feel very at peace with our decision, and our relationship is off to a smooth start. We will see where it goes from here...
:)
So, that's the quick version of the story...I hope I didn't miss any vital information. Just let me know if I did!
I'll keep you posted! hehe
Love and miss you all, as usual!
<3 sarai
I AM NOW IN A RELATIONSHIP!
:) :) :) :)
Since many people are asking all about it, I decided to just write the story here, where you can all read it, because that saves me a lot of time writing personal messages to all of you. haha
Do you want to hear the story?
...that's what I thought. ;)
Soooo....once upon a time....
just kidding.
On the first day of school I met a guy named Josh.
He lives in England (actually, he lives just across the street from school because his dad works at school) and therefore, he has an amazing British accent. :) Well, we became good friends and started hanging out a lot every day...playing cards, ping-pong, going on walks, or just hanging out talking or teasing each other. People were asking us if anything was going on WAY before it was, just because we were always together. Well, it seemed like he liked me and I was starting to like him, and then the night before I left for travel weekend in Edinburgh (beginning of November...he didn't go to Edinburgh) Josh and I went on a walk. We confirmed that we both liked each other, but both decided that we should take some time to think and pray about whether or not we should do anything about it. I really felt good about that decision, because we both acknowledged that neither of us came here to get into a relationship, but to focus on God. I totally came to the point of, "I know I am here for God and that He is my main focus...so if I don't date Josh, that's fine, because God is all I need to be satisfied...and if we do start dating, that's fine, too because I know God is in control and this is in His will." The time that we took off to think and pray was really good, in that sure, I thought about it...but I didn't dwell on it or let it consume my time. I prayed about it...but that God's will would be done, not mine.
We continued hanging out as friends until...
Saturday, November 21st. School had a costume party. I borrowed Josh's clothes (and dressed up like a nerd) and the party was VERY fun. Afterward, Josh asked me to play ping-pong, so we did and then he asked if i wanted to go on a walk. We went outside...it was a chilly but clear night. He said he had somewhere special to show me and brought me out by the barn and told me to look up. We could see SOOO many stars!!! It was so beautiful. We just stayed out and looked at the stars and talked, and then he mentioned that he wanted to discuss what we had discussed earlier. He said that after thinking and praying about it a lot, he kinda expected God to give him a black and white, yes or no answer of YES, YOU SHOULD DATE SARAI or NO, DO NOT DATE HER! But he said the more he's prayed, the more he feels like God is saying, "This has the potential to work out or not, but you have to make the choice yourself and step up and make a decision." And he said that the more he's thought about it, the more he feels it would be right and wants to date me. :) I felt the same way and we officially became the first Capernwray couple! haha
Of course, there is so much more behind it all, such as many conversations about the logistics of dating here, what we will do after, etc. He talked to my dad and we both met with the couple in charge of Pastoral Care here. So far, I feel very at peace with our decision, and our relationship is off to a smooth start. We will see where it goes from here...
:)
So, that's the quick version of the story...I hope I didn't miss any vital information. Just let me know if I did!
I'll keep you posted! hehe
Love and miss you all, as usual!
<3 sarai
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