Up until this point, though I don't post everyday, I have only missed writing about one day. (Aside from holidays where I take a break from the blog).
Unfortunately I got backed up and busy with the most random of things so in order to catch up I decided to do one short and simple post over the past week - however I honestly haven't a clue what happened other than two or three things.
I figured with as long as my posts usually are - yall would enjoy the less is more on this one :)
The couple of days following the Alton Towers trip I was exhausted. Guess I got less sleep than I realized! I also was busy preparing for my vacation home (I leave in the morning!)
MY EXTREMELY QUICK OVERVIEW:
**The outreaches were good (but partially bumpy) Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
**Sunday afternoon Dr Stewart told Jacs and I to go out for lunch on him. So sweet! We went down to the Bureau and each had a delicious meal - got to visit with James from Adopt-A-Block as well.
**After church that night I went to Roy Field's last service in NI. I was completely moved by the Holy Spirit. Cried alot - and felt God revealing new things to me about myself and my calling.
**Monday (yesterday) Jacs and I went to the Titanic museum! I have been counting down to it's grand opening for months and was ecstatic to finally be going. The most interactive museum ever! Loved it more than any museum I've been to aside from the Smithsonian and a traveling Baseball Exhibit from Cooperstown. It was such a fun day! A bit sad towards the end. . . but still so impactful.
Titanic to the Olympic...
Spent today get everything packed up for my trip home tomorrow! Been only 3 months but it seems like forever since I last saw my family! Miss them SO MUCH! Can't wait to give every one of them a hug! I know this is a lame entry to end on but this is me signing off until my holiday is over! Be back in two weeks!
I think this might be the longest entry I have written yet - so prepare yourselves! Grab a snack (might I suggest a bag of popcorn or a bowl of ice cream) and find yourself the most comfortable chair - this could take awhile. . .
DAY ONE
Alton Towers!!! Hard to believe it finally arrived! Seems like we've been preparing for it for months! I woke up with still some packing to do - wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be thanks to my ever so dependable schedule I made myself the night before. It looked something like this:
7:30 - Hit the snooze
7:45 - Wake Up
7:50 - Clean Room
8:00 - Finish Packing
8:15 - Get Ready
8:30 - Eat Breakfast
etc. . .
The whole gang showed up (19 of us in all) and we left at 10am sharp - didn't forget anything! I was in charge of all the money and paperwork - the file with everything in it never left my side the whole trip!
We took the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan, Scotland. First time I have been on a legit ferry - and might I say this one was GORGEOUS! Like a mini cruise ship. Very modern and artistic. Loved it! Well I loved it until we left the dock that is. . . started to get a wee bit sick. Half way through the water journey I took some of the youth who were also seasick up to the sun deck to get some cool fresh air (actually wasn't that cold). We spent the rest of the trip up there - I dedicated myself to rubbing backs and playing with hair to help them and keep my focus off my turning stomach. When I got to the point where I was getting desperate, a welcoming sight of land appeared ahead in the near distance - Hello Scotland!! The whole ferry ride took about 135 minutes.
I started my trip in the mini bus - but moved to the car after the ferry ride to help Alan navigate the trip and to help settle my queasy stomach. Some of the best moments of our 3 day trip happened in that car.
Maggie, one of the girls proved to be the most entertaining. Her most famous line - which provided us with countless hours of teasing was "I'm not sick, I'm nauseous." Another funny moment involving Mags had to do with the Titanic. We were talking alot about it (2012 is a big year for Belfast as it's the 100th year anniversary of the great ship. We just opened the Titanic Belfast Museum and with the movie coming back out to theatres in 3D it's become a highly talked about subject lately) She had since fallen asleep in the back seat. The car window was open and what song happened to come on from the ipod shuffle? Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" . . . I had to capture the moment on camera as it was too priceless to pass up. . .
At one point while driving we noticed the mini bus pulling to the side of the road. We weren't sure really why and busted a U-turn to check it out. This was what we found. . .
I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go! Haha there was one time we had to stop at a house for LacyJo, she had to knock on the door and asked to use their toilet! The part of Scotland we drove through was beautiful but not very populated. The countryside reminded me alot of Northern Ireland. I loved looking out the window at the Scottish mountains behind rolling green hills and seeing all of the new baby lambs scattered throughout the sheep. (Sigh) Spring is officially here ♥
We FINALLY arrived at our hotel and after dividing up the rooms (all of us girls were in one room; Jacs, L-j, Maggie, Rebecca, & Amy) We ordered some dominoes. MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm so good! After dinner, the majority of the kids left to go next door to buy munchies with Jacs, while I stayed and played Guess Who and Scrabble with a couple of the boys.
The girls polished nails upstairs after - such a stereotypical thing to do. . . but we loved it! And then we told stories until we fell asleep! (I told the girls about "First Urge" for all of you back home who have heard me tell it before - Thanks to Veronica who shared it with my youth group when I was a teen!)
DAY TWO
Waking up should've been the easiest thing for my girls. . . but they acted as though it was a school day! We were all supposed to meet downstairs at 8am for breakfast. Aimee and Rebecca got up and started getting ready around 7:30am but these two didn't wake up until 7:50 when I pulled off their blankets and took their pillows!
After waiting for everyone to arrive downstairs we finally met up, ate breakfast, and then headed out. We made it to the theme park about half an hour before opening - unfortunately it took those of us in the car that long (and some) to park and catch the metro rail to the entrance (Ha! So much for getting there early!)
We decided it would be best to stick together as much as possible This actually happened for the
most part except at the very beginning when a couple of the guys ran on ahead. We met back up with them about an hour later and discovered they had collected a few things along the way. . .
The park was full of people but being the Easter holiday it wasn't near as bad as I thought it'd be and we were able to ride on all of the major roller coasters!
First ride we went on was Rita. I had convinced a couple of the kids that it was the easiest roller coaster in the park (uhh but I had never been on it before so it was a pure lie to get everyone to go) Worked for the most part and it proved to be a very exhilarating ride as you're catapulted from 0-100km in 2.5 seconds!
The next ride was Th13teen - based off the horror movie. Longest line we had to wait in all day. Since it was still early I don't think anyone minded the wait too much.
It was at this point where we all regrouped. While waiting for everyone to arrive I took two of the kids to the Willy Wonka ride. Nothing too extreme but it did smell like chocolate (I started to realize just how hungry I was getting!)
We were kinda walking aimlessly around the park for a bit and that's when we came across some camera men (Having lived in LA for 4 years I've learned that this means a celebrity is nearby) Sure enough, Peter Andre was at the rock wall with his two kids while a small camera crew was recording footage for his TV show. I never even knew who the guy was until I moved to the UK (He is Rachel Kirk's celebrity crush). Saw him on TV and in some magazines - nice guy so I've heard but oh my word in person he is really attractive. Just sayin . . .
I spent the next few moments taking pics and talking to Rach on the phone - ha I was pure paparazzi - or maybe just a creeper lol!
After celebrity stalking I met up with some who had ran on ahead to the Oblivion. Supposedly the freakiest ride at Alton Towers. A coaster with a terrifying vertical drop.
To be honest I was a bit disappointed. The drop was definitely intense and I felt my heart fall - but that was the extint of the ride. I was expecting a full length ride after and there wasn't. Still the drop was pretty amazing!
We made our way from there to Burger King. Being a McDonald's fan myself - I usually don't care too much for BK, however I was famished at this point and I couldn't wait for that burger and fries!
Everything closes much earlier here in the UK and amusement parks are no exception. After lunch we hurried on to our last two rides as the park closes at 5:30 and we were already reaching 4pm! It was a long walk across the park. We passed the "Towers" of Alton Towers along the way. I love how so many of the attractions in the UK are built around old buildings that are already in existence! (We noticed this at the Belfast zoo as well)
We finally made it to "Air" thanks to the navigating skills of the Americans. . .
I LOVED this ride! It was very similar to the Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Los Angeles. The only difference is you are literally feet away from hitting things as you are 'flying' close to the ground, under footpaths and gliding narrowly past objects such as trees and rocks. Haha I rode this one next to Alan and might I mention he was screaming like a little girl! Hilarious!
As our day was coming to a close we had one last major coaster to conquer! This being the last ride we forced nearly everybody to go on it!
The Nemesis was Europe’s first ever inverted roller coaster. It takes you cork-screwing, spinning and racing through the park at breakneck speeds, reaching G-forces greater than a space shuttle launch. By far my favorite ride here! And a perfect one to finish with!
Throughout the day the kids played carnival games. Ha we ended up with about 8 stuffed animals 4 of which were almost bigger than me! Alan was determined the whole time to win something for Benjamin but after multiple games he finally allowed Owen to toss the balls in the bucket for him - thus winning the prized gator. (I also played a couple of games. . . but we wont talk about that. . .)
We all headed home exhausted and hungry for dinner, but extremely happy. What a wonderful day! (It helped too that aside from a few gusts of chilly wind and an occasional light sprinkle the day was gorgeous!)
Domino's two for Tuesday's provided us with dinner.
Some of the kids attempted pranks (unsuccessfully thank God as I continue to have flashbacks from my second night in NI and the toothpaste incident) Thankfully no one was toothpasted, no eyebrows were shaved, and nothing got broken on this trip!
DAY THREE
Got to sleep in this morning! We found out at 11:00 that we needed to be out of our hotel rooms by 11:30. Ha so thus began Julie's morning wake up to the girls! Rebecca and Aimee were easy. . . but the blankets and pillows had to come off L-j and Maggie once again and they literally had less than 10 minutes to pack and dress before heading downstairs!
We headed out around noon to a nearby mall. Our ferry wasn't departing until 7:30pm so we had some time to kill. Unfortunately, thanks to a couple wrong turns it took us a bit longer to get to the mall and by the time we parked we only had an allotted 30mins to chill.
It was nice getting out stretching my legs one last time before the long drive home. And Alan got me a coffee - which sadly I spilled about half of it on me, Jacs, and the Disney floor. . . Oh how often I embarrass myself :)
By the time we all got back in the car (and bus) we were heading out much later than planned (letting 19 people loose in a mall with only 30 mins to spare probably wasn't the smartest idea!). After driving for about 10 minutes, Alan and I decided to do the math. Because the bus was set at a maximum speed of 62 mph and we hadn't had lunch yet (not to mention dinner) plus adding all of the bathroom stops we would no doubtingly have to take we realized it would be impossible for us to make the 7:30 ferry! We than began looking for a Plan B.
PLAN B: Pay a £20 transfer fee and take the 11:30pm ferry.
Adding the 4 extra hours was great. No need to rush now! Since the towns we were driving through were pretty desolate we had to come up with other ways to pass the time.
MY NEWEST ADDICTION: McDonald's cheeseburgers. Just the regular come like its made classic cheeseburger. I have to get one on a weekly basis (I know I know killing myself quicker with each bite).
So all throughout the trip I've been bugging Alan to stop at one. ALSO: They are doing the Monopoly game. My favorite! I've been collecting the properties and its still so weird not knowing any of them by name! After leaving the mall we began to look for a rest stop with food when I saw the glorious sign saying "MCDONALD'S NEXT EXIT" Glory hallelujah!!!
We spent quite awhile here as we were trying to eliminate some of our extra time. So to entertain myself I taught some of the kids straw tricks. (The Caterpillar: Push the paper down your straw until about halfway on the straw. Then do the same with the other side until it is all scrunched together. Slide off the paper onto the table so it looks somewhat like a white caterpillar. Let a drop of your drink (water or sprite works best) fall onto it and watch the caterpillar grow! Quacker: Rip one side of the paper off your straw. On the other end rip part so the straw can come through but leave the wrapper still intact. Fold the newly made flap to touch the straw - like a lid - and suck in slightly from the opposing side of the straw. This will create the perfect sound of a duck) We had alot of fun doing this until four kids had the "Quacker" going and other customers were no longer happy with me :) Oh well - it was a great time killer!
We made a couple other stops along the way. One to kill time (by throwing a football and taking pictures) It was here that Conor decided to burn the hair on one side of his head while lighting a cig - compliments of spray deodorant and a lighter :) Hilarious! The second stop was at a chippie for dinner.
The ferry ride home was much less crowded thanks to the late hour and I was able to lie down on a couch and enjoy the film playing (The Adventures of TinTin - Loved it way more than I thought I would!)
We finally pulled into the church around 2am!! Home at last! A quick goodbye to those on the bus and that was me off to get some well needed rest!
We had so much fun! Can't wait until Youth Weekend! This time I will be prepared with my own pranks and paybacks :) Gonna be brill!
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Matthew 28:6
What a wonderful Easter!
I woke up this morning a bit tired from my late night last night (stayed up until 2:30am watching the Astros game - who won!) Finished getting ready just in time for worship practice.
Got to see my baby Joshua who is growing up SO FAST! Crazy how quickly babies change. . .
Service was amazing! Afterwards Pastor Cecil and Evelyn took Jaclyn and I out for an Easter lunch! So sweet of them! The food was delicious and we had such a lovely time in fellowship. They also had gotten Jacs and I each a giant Lindor egg!
We were back by 3pm and I was able to phone home before my family went off to church! Talked to my mom and dad, the twins, my brother Jeremy, and my sister Emily. . . almost the whole clan :)
Watched a movie before taking what I thought was gonna be a short power nap before the evening service. Ha! Something happened to my alarm and if Abigail hadn't of come to my room at 6:20pm I would've probably slept through the service!
Which would've been a shame cause it was even better than this morning! We had a Celebration service! After worship from the JCC worship team, we had an African choir lead some songs. . . Oh my word the place was buzzing! Everyone was on their feet dancing! At one point 90% of the congregation was dancing in a huge conga like circle around the church! It was brill! Energy and excitement galore!
To end the night, four of the youth did a drama and the anointing fell like the giant bucket of water at Splashtown! It was like WOOSH! I got the Holy Spirit goosebumps and everything. To say they did incredible is an understatement!
Altar call and then one last song of "Look What the Lord Has Done" - Daniel Wright's favorite :)
Ultimately a fun and life-giving night!
Came back to my room to pack for tomorrow's youth trip to Alton Towers . . . however, I had a really hard time focusing, and found myself doing everything but packing!
Made some dinner, cleaned my room - kinda, watched the last 3 innings of the Astros game (a come from behind win!), And then I had this great idea to Skype my sister Melody. . . thought maybe it would help to talk to someone while I packed - ya right! She got online and then my older brother Jonathan got on and then my other brother and sister came into the room too so all 5 of us were chatting. It was so good to visit with all of them so I don't regret the time spent - however it did put me packing much later and I have finally decided to call it a night and finish packing in the morning (now that I will probably regret!)
Best conversation of the night with the sibs was as follows;
Emily: "OMG did you know that Stevie Wonder was at Angelus Temple this morning?!?" Julie and Melody: "Yes, Emily" Emily: "I mean, that's a big deal! I thought he was dead!!" Jonathan: "It truly is Resurrection Sunday."
Lastly, I wanted to share a wee clip. I grew up listening to the 70's/80's Christian singers - some birthed out of the "Jesus Movement" (Keith Green, John Michael Talbot, Amy Grant, Terry Talbot, etc. . .) I love Keith Green and though he died tragically before I was born I always wished I could've heard him live. This song is my favorite of his and one of my all-time favorite songs period, although I usually only listen to it on Easter. . .
Well I have a busy week ahead of me! I'll be in England until Wednesday night so I shall write then about the adventures that occur on the trip!
-J
ps Happy Birthday to my dear friend - the one and only Rachel Kirk! I am so blessed to have her in my life and thankful that the Lord has brought us together!
Today has been such a full day, seems as if it's been more than one.
I worked in the office, thought it would be a semi slow day since both Dr Stewart and Hannah were away. Found this not to be the case when Alan said he needed to record a voice over and film some sermon intros for tv. Ha he tells me this on a day I went to the office with wet hair and no makeup!
I'm gonna be out of the office almost all of next week for Alton Towers (only working on Friday) and then I leave the following Wednesday for a two week holiday back home. So I spent majority of my day getting things finished in advance and preparing things for when I'm away. Then I went and got beautified for the few things Alan needed.
After work Abigail and I went for a 3 mile run. This was the best run yet! I felt great running it. . .
MARATHON UPDATE: Talked to everyone last night and felt that it was best to go ahead with one team and the rest to run in the Fun Run. Abigail will also be running in the Fun Run as she is old enough for that. Hence why we ran today. Since three miles (5k) isn't that far Abs and I are going for a quick time - hopefully 6-8min miles. Hmmm we shall see :)
Street Reach tonight! It seemed to fly by! We had so much fun! Wasn't as cold as I thought it'd be - and it stayed light out the whole time (How in the world am I going to get to sleep in the summer?? They say it stays light until after 10pm!) I honestly wish there was more I could do to help these kids. I do my best to love them, listen to them, speak the truth, and above all pray. . . but I always leave close to tears. God please do something! I was talking with one of the girls tonight about Catholicism. She is going to mass on Sunday for Easter. We discussed Dee Corr's funeral and the different rituals in a catholic service. How strict it is and impersonal. God becomes some dictator on the stand ready to judge "Now you know why so many of us have a problem with God." she said. It breaks my heart how badly the Lord has been portrayed.
"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Prov 3:5
After Street Reach Vinny dropped Jacs, Abs, and I off at the Abbey Centre. I had to get a couple things and then we got a few groceries at Tescos. Didn't stay out too long - had to get back in time to watch The Robe.
Watching this movie on Good Friday has become somewhat of a tradition for me. I love this film! Made back in the early 50's the cinematography isn't too good - but the storyline is deep.
Based on the book by Lloyd Douglas; Marcellus is a tribune in the time of Christ. He is in charge of crucifying Jesus. He also is the Roman who wins Jesus' robe crucifixion. He is tormented by nightmares and delusions after the event. Hoping to find a way to live with what he has done, and still not believing in Jesus, he returns to Palestine to try and learn what he can of the man he killed.
It was Jacs first time to watch it - though tired she stayed up for the whole 2+ hours :)
Well I have Adopt-A-Block in the morning so I think I'm gonna call it a night!
xoxo
-J
I can't believe I just made myself a whole plate of pasta and its almost midnight! Guess I won't be going to bed anytime soon!
Another good day today :)
Slept in this morning until 11am! I probably would've stayed in bed even later than that except I had a lunch date with Rach! We went into town to Avoca. Its a cute little shop with a restaurant and cafe upstairs (the shop reminds me of anthropology). I got a Chicken caesar wrap and Rach had beef and heineken stew. Both meals were delicious!
The cafe upstairs. Check out Avoca - such a cute place! www.avoca.ie
Ran a couple errands while we were in town and then headed back to the church (I needed to get ready for Junior Youth and she had an appt to get home for by half 4) I had the best time! Love Rachel to bits and it's been forever since we had a girl time :)
This afternoon I was really stressing about the upcoming marathon. The deadline for entering is tomorrow and we are short a runner for one of our teams! Plus we don't have any reserves! So I went to God. I don't know why I didn't before - guess I didn't want to bother him with something so small . . . dumb Julie dumb. Anyways I got to praying something like this; "Ok God, here's the deal. I need one more runner or an idea of how to handle this asap. Please. Thank you. Amen." Within 5 mins I had an idea. Basically we are going to have one team of 5 run in the relay and the other 4 are gonna run in the "Fun Run" which is about 3.2 miles (I volunteer for that one!) - - - I have to discuss it with my runners but it all makes perfect sense! Thank you Jesus!
Tonight's Junior Youth went really well. Ended up with 7 lil' munchkins. Quite a few of them were away on holiday but we had a couple visitors. Talked about the REAL Easter story. I was quite impressed by how much some of them knew!
The Loft Youth was really good too! Today is Rebecca's birthday so I spent part of the night chatting with her. . . Love her so much! Happy Birthday my beautiful girl! x
Also tonight one of our newer girls, Charlie, gave her heart to the Lord! She came with L-j a couple weeks ago and LacyJo has been witnessing to her and we've all been praying for her! God is SO good! Excited to see what God is doing amongst these teens!
I have alot to do in the office tomorrow, on top of having a late night last night, and I should really be heading to bed right now but I cant. After this big pasta meal I'm wide awake! Ha oh man. I'll see if anyone is on Skype or maybe just resort to watching a few episodes of Full House :)
-J
Today has been the best day I've had out here in a long time! Yesterday was a bit blah for me and I think it was partial to my attitude and so I was determined to be positive today and what a difference that made!
QUICK TUESDAY OVERVIEW: Yesterday was a normal Tuesday in the office working on odds and ends. . . didn't do anything at night - just watched some TV. Only interesting thing all day was the occasional snow flurries outside my window. Crazy - it was just last week Jacs and I were in tank tops and sandals throwing the football in the park!
Like I said, today was good - but really busy :) I was working in the office on all kinds of things. We are taking the youth to Alton Towers on Monday so I had to get a couple things finished for that.
Tonight we had Roy Fields with us. A very anointed and powerful man of God - and completely humble. He was the worship leader during the Lakeland Revival. Tonight he led worship and spoke a message on revival. "Revival isn't for the lost (you can't revive someone who has never known what it is to be alive) Revival is for the church! To turn their heart back towards God." -Roy Fields I was encouraged, inspired, and challenge by tonight's message.
Afterwards Alan, Jaclyn, and I went out to grab some dinner with Roy - however, since it was midnight everything outside of town was closed so we ended up in Belfast at some small "we serve it all" restaurant. Roy and I split a cheese pizza and Alan and Jacs each got kebabs (Not sure really what it was - didn't look like kebabs I'm used to seeing. Glad I went for the pizza) Ha Roy Fields is hilarious by the way! Always doing impersonations and joking. Kept us all in high spirits throughout the night! It started by his prayer for the food. . . "Lord turn this pizza into a carrot stick. Amen" Brilliant!
His wife is flying in tonight (He showed us a short video clip of her leading a women's conference - what a powerhouse! Reminds me of my good friend Lindsey!) I would like to meet her before they head back to the States so I'm thinking about going to the service he is preaching on Saturday (not sure where it's at yet)
Great night with friends! I didn't get home until just now though (its a little after 3am) Good thing I get to sleep in tomorrow!
-J
Haven't done too much the past two days (which is why I didn't write yesterday.) I went to church morning and night - both services were really good and the presence of God was very heavy. . . spent the afternoon resting.
Woke up this morning feeling a wee bit sick - so a day in bed seemed like the best idea. I left the church (my house) once to go to the Spar and mail a letter, otherwise leaving my room only to go to the bathroom and to get food from the kitchen (which did happen several times throughout the day) and one other time to call home. Being stuck in bed means movies and movies means munchies. . . I think I ate more than I have in quite awhile. . .
I spent the whole day watching Season 1 of Full House. I loved this show growing up and have been wanting to watch it for months now. I know I know - not a very productive day. But sometimes chill days are necessary for me. Anyways I enjoyed myself.
I forgot how cute Stephanie Tanner was! I want my girl to be cute like her! She made me laugh more than once! Awk but watching the show really made me miss my family all the more! Can't wait to see them - 2 more weeks! I also really appreciate the fact that I didn't grow up in the 80's. The 90's were rough enough without the mullets and funky attire (though we did have some pretty ridiculous fashion trends). Haha
Stephanie Tanner moments (you have to watch on YouTube though)
A much needed relaxing day for me. Ready to tackle the busy week ahead!
