University Update!!

I am so excited about my return to University, but even I had to admit that I was seriously worried about not being accepted anywhere. What if they didn't like my personal statement? What if my grades weren't good enough? So you can imagine my relief when less then 2 weeks after putting in my application I received an offer from The University of Glouchestershire. It's conditional . . . I have to send copies of my certificates lol. I was so excited to receive this offer because even though it wasn't my top choice it meant that I am definitely going to university somewhere. Last week I received another offer . . . this time from The University of Plymouth with the same condition.

I looked round Bath Spa University last week, man was it a culture shock. I am so used to BYU and the culture and atmosphere of the campus. Bath Spa was so small compared to what I'm used to, and there is so much open countryside. There is a bar on campus (yes I was and am aware that every university here has a bar) but BYU don't even serve caffeinated drinks. The clothes that people were wearing and the atmosphere was so different. When you walk round BYU you can tell that pretty much every student is a mormon even if you didn't know, just by the way they dress and act etc.

So it's going to be a culture shock going back to University.

Despite all this I'm still really excited to be going back and to starting  a (new) chapter of my life. I'm also really excited to be looking around The University of Plymouth this week.

A brand new year!!

Can you believe that it is a new year already?? I can't get over how fast 2010 seemed to fly by, it just seems like yesterday that I was moving from Stansted back home, or even moving from BYU back to England.

You can't go into the new year without starting to change at least one part of your life. I'm not a big one for resolutions, but I have made a few small goals that will improve my life. Nothing major and unrealistic like giving up chocolate. My biggest "resolution" is to find ONE good thing about myself every day. I am FANTASTIC at finding all the negatives about myself, so this is a way to start building my self-confidence a bit.

Other than that I am planning to implement a major change in my life this year . . . I am going back to University!! Whenever I say this to someone they ask if I'm going back to America, and whilst I wish I could, I just can't afford it, and it doesn't seem right anyway. I have just put my application in for 4 universities in England: Bath Spa University (which are going to consider my application as a 2nd year student), University of Gloucestershire, St Mary University College Twickenham London, and the University of Plymouth. I am really excited to be going back to get my degree, and then I plan to get my PGCE in Primary Education. I am slightly worried though because I know that the University structure etc here is so different to America, and I haven't had to study for like 2 years, my free time is free time right now and I just hope that I can adapt back to University life. I think the past 2 years out of Uni has really helped though because I've been able to recognize previous mistakes and I have the determination to do better and to work harder this time. I've done the whole typical student lifestyle and this time I'm going to be more serious.

Christmas was really good this year, it was so much fun watching Lucas enjoying Christmas, he is just at the right age. He was so cute when he came in to wake me up Christmas morning. He just leaned right in  and whispered "Kiri . . . It's me, it's Lucas. Kiri Santa came and gave me presents, and he came to you too. You must of been a good girl this year. Come on Kiri, wake up, let's go open our presents" It was the cutest thing. It was so good to be able to spend time with the whole family, and just relax. I wasn't too well over Christmas and so I even enjoyed a Christmas Day nap while everyone else was playing in the snow. It was great that we had a TON of snow leading up to Christmas, it made it feel so magical.

The past is the past!!

Today I was digging around the one box I have yet to unpack in the hopes of retrieving my diary. My life has become so hectic in the past couple of weeks and I'm starting to lose track of everything that is supposed to be going on in the next few weeks, my social calendar has just exploded. lol. Whilst I was looking for my diary (which I found by the way) I found the DVDs from the 2 wards I was in at BYU. As I watched the slide shows of all the pictures that members of my ward had submitted (including some of my own) I was remembering the great times that I had at BYU and all the fabulous friends that I had made there.

This got me thinking . . . I remember all the great times so fondly, and miss the culture so much. . . And then I thought . . . I need to cherish THIS time of my life. I need to take more pictures of the people around me and the things that I do. I need to remember that BYU (as much as I loved and miss it) IS in the past and I need to make my own happy present. I need to be happy, I need to have fun, so that in 2 or 5 or 10 years I can look back at THESE times with fondness and great memories and joy.

So that is  my goal for this week, I am going to ENJOY life, whatever may get thrown my way. I am going to carry my camera with me and actually start taking pictures. I have no pictures of my English friends since before BYU, it's time that changed. As much as I LOVE America, and the culture, the past is the past, I need to stop trying to live in the past, and enjoy what I have now and just be grateful for all the experiences and friends I get along the way!!

xxx

Trials!!

So last night I come home from work feeling majorly sorry for myself because the past few days I have been suffering from a pretty nasty cold, which thankfully seems to now be disappearing quite quickly. But last night I was the picture of sickness with a mountain of tissues on my bedside table, red nose, blocked AND runny nose (how is that possible??) and with blocked ears to boot. Well last night one of my friends posted a link on facebook to an article which was about a young married LDS couple. Here is The article. 


Their story just hit me, here they are, not long married, with a 18 month daughter who has a terrible accident and this couple are just so strong and positive about the whole experience and focus on Christ. Just writing her experiences on her blog, her story about her daughter attracted readers from all over the world and changed so many people's life's, and still there are people reading her blog to see how this couple are coping after the loss of their daughter. 


Intrigued by the article I too logged on to Their blog.  My first thought was WOW!! They appear to be coping so well. It was as I was reading their blog that something she said really stood out to me. 

"As I sit in class and listen to the other girls (I'm an elementary education major, we have very few boys in our major) talk about their care-free lives it makes me think. Last semester that was me. My biggest concern after school was what I was going to make for dinner. As I sit and listen now, many times I envy them. Many of them have no idea what I'm struggling with. Not even my teachers. It's made me think, how many people around me are struggling with major trials and hiding it as well?"

This just hit me . . . I always think what I'm going through is the worst in the world and I envy those with 'easy' lives, but what kind of trials are they hiding?? And I also thought "If the worst thing I am going through is a pretty nasty cold, then my life is pretty darn good right now" It just really made me ponder on the attitude I have with my own life and my own trials, and how I can be better. Better at being more compassionate to others who I know are struggling. And also those who maybe are also struggling. I am making the goal today to have a better attitude to my trials, to remember that there are others in the world who are going through worse things than me, and to be more compassionate and to give more service to those who are struggling with things in their lives. 

Officially Moved in!!

So we officially moved in 12 days ago and we are loving our new apartment. I love the fact that I am a lot closer to work (came in handy when they called me off standby today) and I love the fact that I am closer to YSA stuff. It took a week or so until we were really organized in the apartment and everything is still not quite complete but at least it's livable instead of boxes everywhere.

Me and Mom were proper smart and put my bed up straight away and made up all the bedding. Smart because after hauling all my stuff upstairs (and some of Grace's) and a major move-in food shop, there is no way I would of had the energy to put up a bed. Once Grace was here, like typical girls we sorted out the Kitchen first, and was the first room where we had everything unpacked and organized. The lounge and Dining area had boxes in until like Sunday lol, but is now looking clean, tidy, and organized.

Have taken pre-organized pictures but I'm sure you can imagine a ton of boxes everywhere and a couch at a very odd angle in the middle of the room (with a pathway to it no less) but here are pictures of our flat :)

 Lounge

 Dining Room

 Kitchen . . . Do you like our Appliance corner??

 Bedroom

Grace's Flowers . . . What a fancy vase!!

MOVING DAY!!

Woot!! Can you believe it's moving day already?? I am SOOO excited, I really struggled to get to sleep last night, like struggled more than on Christmas Eve, and almost as much as before I jetted off to BYU for the first time. Yesterday I spent the whole day packing with 2 small breaks . . . 1 when one of my nails broke so I had to go get it fixed :( and the other when we watched Letters to Juliet for FHE. (More about that later). 


I never knew I had soooo much stuff, seriously I had already piled up my boot and half of the back of the car and started piling it up in the hallway and just couldn't believe how many boxes I had stacked up. I came home from BYU with just 2 suitcases and that was it, now I think I would need like 20 suitcases to fit all my stuff in. Granted some of it is like bedding and Kitchen stuff which I've bought/accumulated while I was in Stansted, but still  . . . We're taking my car and my parents people carrier, with the bed and wardrobe in there too I don't think we're going to be able to fit all my stuff in the 2 cars. Good job I'm back home next week to babysit because it means I can just pick stuff up then although saying that, choosing which boxes go up today will be hard because I'm pretty sure the TV, TV  power cable, Ariel, and Remote are all in different boxes (whoops). 

Letters to Juliet is a totally cheesy movie, but I love it anyway. Set in Italy, this American visits Verona and visits Juliet's House and finds a letter which is 50 years old, and writes back to that women . . . You'll have to watch it to find out more. It is so cute, and has really made me want to visit Verona now (the tourist board of that city must be loving this movie). I think me and Abi are planning our Italian trip when she gets back next year . . . And Ryanair are starting flights into that city so even better :D 


Well since I haven't finished packing yet I must go, I can sense that the next week is going to be claustrophobic, hectic, and frustrating as I move, work, unpack, and organize. I'll try and take some before, during, and after pictures of the move and post them up as soon as I have internet again (which will be goodness knows how long) 


Kiri x x x 

Ireland v. England

Don't you just hate it when all good things happen at once?? My collegue Emma and I were talking and she mentioned that British Airways have jobs opening for a new set of crew who are going to be "Mixed Fleet" this means that instead of being Long-haul crew or Short-haul crew, you're both. You can do the trips to Singapore, LA, and Rio de Janeiro. And you can also do the shorter Malaga, Oslo, and Glasgow. This is pretty much my ideal job, being able to mix being home at night after work, to doing the long-haul flights with stop overs in Cities I've never been to before, where I can really start to travel. Plus whilst the pay is slightly better than what I'm earning right now, the perks are HUGE. Applications close October 10th, and I'd be based in London  Heathrow which would mean moving out there, and probably spending a lot more on accommodation. 

On the other hand we have Ireland and good old Ryanair. This job has been a fantastic first job in the industry, they have worked me hard, I was able to transfer back home faster than I thought, and I have gained a lot of experience. I feel at home in the base, and even though the perks aren't as good as BA at least I know that the company is financially stable (also good to know in case another volcano goes off). I have great friends here in Bristol, and I'm just so excited to be moving into my new flat with Grace on Tuesday. The decision to move into the flat felt so right, I have no doubt that it is what I'm meant to be doing right now. So why oh why does BA have to tempt me now instead of 2 months ago. lol. I'm debating whether to throw caution to the wind and apply for my ideal job anyway. Or to follow the feeling that I've had the past few months that for whatever reason I need to be living in Bristol.


So I'm putting it to the vote . . . Ireland??? Or England???