Signed, Sealed, Delivered...

Here is the second post for today, and for this holiday, as promised!

I *love* letters. Just putting it out there. I realised that pretty much all my favourite stories have letters in...

P.S. I Love You - Jerry writes letters to Holly before his death, which she recieves in various ways throughout the movie.

Letters To Juliet - Clue is in the name!

The Proposal - Right at the end when she leaves the note... Well, you'll have to watch it to find out.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - That one stinking letter that got swept under the mat...

All of Austen's novels - There are various letters in each one which have such a major effect on the plot, as they are the vehicle with which characters (and Austen) can express themselves without as many social limitations as face-to-face conversations involve. Yet, so many times in her novels, we are asked to read between the lines as many characters left a lot unsaid.

The Notebook - The letters that Noah sends every single day, and Allie eventually recieves a few years later.


There are probably many many more, which I can't remember off the top of my head, but I simply love letters. And so I have decided to write more letters. I don't have time at school to stitch and sew and knit and craft and all the other things that I could do at home, so my creative and emotional outlet is going to be letters. So just a warning to anyone whose address I have.... You'll be getting mail! Maybe even in French (That's you, Kate!). Wish me luck!!

God bless,
Eve xx

A Bit of a Gap...

So I'm thinking that maybe one of these days I'll be able to write a blog post without apologising for my long absence! Maybe in the holidays, but saying that, I've just had a two week break and this is the first post!

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot recently about my future. It's really rather scary and daunting and so I'm having to kind of look at it one step at a time. Otherwise I think I might implode!

Step 1 - The Gap Year...

I recently went and met with a guy who specializes in helping students make the most of their gap year. It was uber helpful and I now have a million and one different ideas of what to do! Here's my starting plan, but I am a woman, so this is subject to a lot of change! -

ABC of me

So I saw this on a really cute blog post, and thought I'd try it out for myself...

(And just so you are aware, yes I do feel VERY bad about not having posted for yonks!)

A. Age: 16

B. Bed size: Single, new, and VERY comfy

C. Chore that you hate: Shamefully, I don't think I actually do many chores! The worst is probably changing bed sheets though... What a kerfuffle!

D. Dogs: 3 goldfish: Cinderalla, Frankenstein and Alice the Albino

E. Essential start to your day: Afraid to say it, but mirror check before walking down to school!

F. Favorite color: Sky Blue

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: I think I'm about 5"9' or 5"10', but I honestly haven't measured myself in quite a while.

I. Instruments you play: Piano, triangle and singing.

J. Job title: I'm a student, daughter, friend, sister, christian and probably many other things :)

K. Kids: I love kids.

L. Live: Near Oxford.

M. Mother’s name: Dee

N. Nicknames: Shmeve, Evie Bee, Shmevlin, Evils.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Half a night when Dad accidentally fed me 'external-use-only' Verucca medication!

P. Pet peeves: 

Loud chewing. And people who say they don't like something when they haven't even given it a chance. Oh, and people who create their own stereotype of what a 'Christian' is... God works through ALL people, so don't expect ALL people to be the same!

Q. Quote(s) from a movie:

'You should know this is the strangest thing I've ever done!' - Flynn Rider (Tangled)

'Go live your dream!'

'I will!'

'Not you, your dream stinks!' - Tangled

'But the truth is, Sophie, I am madly, truly, deeply, passionately 

in love with you.' - Letters to Juliet

'I don't know about you guys, but we are the weirdest herd I've ever seen.' - Ice Age

'This is our private stockpile for the Ice Age. Sub Arctic temperatures will force underground for a billion, billion years.'

'So you got three melons?' - Ice Age

'So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please?

A little Tutorial

This post has taken me a little while to get round to, and my most sincere apologies go to my dear friends to whom I said 'Look at my blog this evening!' about a week ago! Life has been a little hectic recently with one thing or another but here goes...

After moving house, turning out all my things, and discovering a whole load of things that I didn't even realise I had, I have decided to put my creative juices to good use!! Here is a little way I have 'discovered' to display holiday pics in a fun and crafty way. I doubt I actually discovered it, but I thought you might like to see simply how it is done...

Hello Strangers!

So... You might have noticed that I haven't been around for a while. Well, don't worry, I haven't been doing nothing! It would be impossible to tell you all the things I've done over the last couple of weeks, so here is a little list of highlights...

• Moved House
• Scrubbed toilets with a toothbrush
• Moved my goldfish from one country to another
• Went to Soul Survivor
• Had an awesome time chilling with Jesus
• Arrived at new house
• Emptied all my belongings into piles in the corners of my new room
• Hunted for a bed... unsuccessfully so far!
• Built an ikea bookcase
• Sand-papered, undercoated and over-coated a different bookcase
• Met with amazing friends in town
• Hung (what feels like) a gazillion curtains
• Started making the quilt!

I can't think of anything else right now, as it is rather early in the morning, but that is just a little snapshot into what I've been doing recently.

Some of you may have no idea what Soul Survivor is, so rather than me trying to explain it, it's probably best if you just clink on this link.

Over the week that I went on, I saw God do some of the most amazing things. In previous years, I have often met God in the climatic points, and the noise and the excitement. I understood his enormity and power, and I will always be in awe of that. But this year He wanted to show me something different.

He became the still small voice.

What will they say?

Do you ever look back on things and think, ‘Where did all that time go?’ I’m rather a nostalgic person and I have rather a few moments like these. Moments when you stop and realize that you haven’t read your bible in days. You haven’t taken time out to talk to so-and-so in weeks. You haven’t had the time to take a long bath in months.

It’s easy to get stuck in the same cycle though. ‘I haven’t’ done this, ‘I haven’t’ done that. But what have I done? What have I achieved in the last couple of years that I wouldn’t have had a hope of doing, had I been spending the whole time in the bath?!

Love is...

So today I want to write about something personal. Something that's personal to everyone.

It's a word that's thrown around all the time, and yet it is so much more than a word. It has thousands of different forms in hundreds of different languages, yet no one word can fully describe it. No-one can pin it down as being one thing. There's no definition for it. For anyone that experiences it, it simply 'is'.

You can't explain what or why it is. And this is why I have seen it misunderstood, so many times. I, myself, have not fully understood it.

After that slightly ambiguous introduction, I want to introduce love to you, as God intended us to know it...

Blissfully Barbecued Bananas

So I meant to write this blog post several weeks ago, so you could all try this over the summer, but better late than never, right?! If any of you are planning a barbecue in the next few weeks then you should seriously try these! They're so yummy, and so easy.

First of all, you need bananas, a large bar of chocolate, a sharp knife, and some kitchen foil.

Becoming a 'Poo-Free' Zone

It's been a rather hectic few days recently with getting ready for the move back to England. I have turned out my room so many times to try and get rid of as much stuff as possible and yet it still doesn't seem to fit in my room... My excuse is that the room is too small, not that I have too much stuff!

As I've mentioned before, I gave up shampoo several months ago, starting on the first day of lent. I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been easy. But I think I'm past the worst bit now, so it can only get better from here. The first few weeks were really rather grim. My hair began to hang in clumps and the only thing I could do was scrape it back in a ponytail and smile lots, in an attempt to draw attention to my face, not my hair! I'm not entirely sure how well it worked, but I like to think I was vaguely successful...

Until the Next Time

I hate goodbyes. I've said a few in my lifetime, but they never get any easier.

I'm just getting to the end of the most amazing holiday. We went round Germany and we're currently in Prague for a couple of days as a family, but the main chunk of our holiday was spent in Chalet Ennstal. If you've never been on a Richmond Holiday, then I highly recommend it. Seriously... Book now! On our week, we were with a very varied group of people, however, by the end of the week it almost felt like we were family. By day three I was emerging at breakfast in pyjamas, wandering around barefoot, leaving the room constantly unlocked, and having no qualms about asking people particularly personal and difficult questions. I'd like to tell you just a little bit about some of the people I met...

You Are What You Eat

This phrase is thrown around all the time and we normally associate it with 'Eat your greens' and 'five-a-day'. Alternatively, I think you can apply this phrase to more than simply your dietary habits. I'm not poo-pooing broccoli, but instead suggesting that 'you are what you eat' can also be applied to spiritual and mental feeding. What do you feed your soul with?

Thriller...

Today I am travelling to Thorpe Park on a school trip. It is raining and cold and miserable but that will never stop me. I am a die-hard roller coaster junkie. I just LOVE the thrill of them, and the unexpected jumps and bumps.

As corny as this sounds, my life literally has been like one of those rides. Everything is absolutely wild and you're screaming and having the time of your life; arms in the air and you've never felt better.

You ARE beautiful

You know on your facebook newsfeed, how it comes up with different people that some of your friends have just become friends with? Well, I saw one little thumbnail of this girl come up on one of these, and with nothing else to do for the next few minutes, I decided to have a sneaky stalk of her profile pictures. Sure enough, her lack of privacy settings allowed this overly inquisitive teen to peruse her photos with ease!

As I was looking at her photos, there were just SO many with comments like 'I pout WAY too much', or 'Need to get my roots died', or 'My face looks so fat in this'. There were so many other comments like this, where she had obviously sat and taken a whole load of pictures of herself and then put REALLY derogatory comments about herself underneath. Not only was I horrified by the comments themselves, but in all the pictures, she had piles of make-up on, fake eye-lashes, tattoos, and her chest was hanging out. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with make-up, or tattoos, although having your chest on full display, I will say, is entirely inappropriate. What I am saying, however, it's just not necessary!

Ramblings of a Wanna-be Chic European

Today I went to a traditional Belgian market. The boys went off kayaking for the day, and took the car with them, which I must admit, posed a slight dilemma. However, God provided and we met a friend at the market who was able to give us a lift onto camp, so that me and Mother could run some errands, and then drop us home.

While at the market, I treated myself to some fabric! I bought four different kinds at 5€ a metre, which didn't seem to be too shabby to me. Whether or not I ever get round to making something with it, remains to be seen.

The Forming of an Addiction

OK, so after writing my last post, getting up, writing an e-mail, and getting a drink of cool cranberry juice, I have returned to my laptop and decided that I cannot hold myself back from writing another!
After only one post, I'm assuming that you probably feel that you haven't learnt much about me. To be honest, though, I'm not too keen on telling people about myself. I'd prefer to just tell you the facts and let you make your mind up for yourself.

Here goes...
+ I'm 16 years old.
+ My favourite colour is sky blue
+ My favourite book is the Bible

The Genesis of my Blog

So... This is my first blog post. Most people probably start by introducing themselves, but I hope you'll get to know me soon enough. Instead, I would like to introduce some other very important people.

Firstly, my saviour, and the lover of my soul, Jesus Christ. I'm not keen on the word 'religion'. I prefer 'relationship'. A month or so ago I made a wild and unconventional decision; I decided that the only man I need in my life right now is Jesus. He is faithful. Forgiving. Unchanging. Trustworthy. Caring. Loving. Servant-hearted. And all-powerful. What more could you want or even NEED in a guy?! He's absolutely perfect... literally!