Despite the less than desirable weather, this summer has also been a ton of fun so far.
Affordable Art Fair which actually wasn't very affordable. We didn't see a single thing under £100, and everything we liked seemed to be over £1000. Don't know about you but I certainly don't have that kinda money sitting in my piggy bank. Me and Rachel went to the affordable art fair a few weeks back near Temple Meads station. It was really interesting looking at all the art, and some by local artists too, the amount of art focused on the Clifton Bridge was astonishing but I guess it's Bristol's most famous landmark. Me and Rach had a favourite piece though which if I did have a spare £2200 I would of bought in a heartbeat. See. . . It's sparkles :D Afterwards we went out to eat at Frankie an Bennies and then I introduced Rach to my new favourite place AngelBerry. It is AMAZING!! They sell frozen yoghurt, like the proper stuff that you buy in frozen yoghurt places in America. I am in love with the place. Alton Towers has to be one of my favourite places on earth, it is certainly my favourite theme park. For Josh's 18th he wanted to go and have a family day out there, and I was really glad that it was a day off for me. This was the week that was ROASTING HOT. Like 30 degrees which is crazy for England. I made the most of the weather that week and spent a lot of it in the sun . . . Which was fine until we went to Alton Towers, and spending all that time outside, I finished looked slightly pink. I had so much fun though. I love rollercoasters. I think my favourite one is Air. We did however work out that the new ride, nemisis: sub terra, was just a waste of time. We didn't get to ride on th13teen or rita. Th13teen because while we were in the queue the ride broke down and rita because the line was too long. I'm planning another trip out to Alton Towers in a couple of weeks with a few of my work colleagues . . . I can't wait!!
Baking Frenzy. For my Birthday I got given a cookbook which I love as it's filled with
deserts. I love baking desert items. So one day I decided to go on a baking frenzy. I made 3 things all in the same afternoon. Chocolate Lava Cake, Strawberry cupcakes, and Ginger and Lime Cheesecake. Here are a few pictures (I was trying to get artistic) of my creations and a few 'work in progress' shots. (Sorry they're all scrambled)
Nadine is over in England right now for her sister's wedding and it was great fun to go and see her today. Nadine is English, but we only met when we both attended BYU. We both worked in the food court and after numerous people asking if we knew eachother we finally met. When I went over to America 2 years ago I stayed with Nadine for a few days before I went to California, and since then she has gotten married. It was super fun to meet up with her briefly and also meet her husband. Since they were visiting Cadbury World today, I went up there to meet up with them. Unfortunately due to the dentist :( and traffic on the M5 I didn't have time to meet them inside. Hopefully it won't be another 2 years before we manage to meet up again, at least I'm hoping to go back to America before then. Here is a picture of us (admittedly not the best one of me) at part of Cadbury World. (I really want to go back and actually visit it properly some day . . . Even the air smelled of chocolate).
Za Za a la Highworth!! Me and Ali have fallen in love with Za Za Bazaar in Bristol. It is one of our favourite places to eat when Ali is in town. It's all you can eat, and there is loads of food from all different cultures. There's Mexican, Chinese, English, American, Italian, Indian, Sushi, Salads, and of course Deserts. So one night I decided that we were going to have home made Za Zas. We had pizza, fajitas, chicken tikka, chinese, curly fries, deserts etc etc. We had far too much food and Ali was probably eating left overs for the rest of the week but it was sooo good.
Family Reunion this year was on the Jubilee weekend and I was lucky enough to have it off. It was held at my Grandparents house and I was able to go down with one of my Aunt and Uncle. The American folk were over aswell and it was soo good to catch up with them and spend some time before they jetted back to Atlanta. The last time I saw then was when I spent Christmas and New Year with them my last year at BYU. It was all jubilee themed so we had a garden party, had to guess the baby names (I came 3rd), made jubilee hats (Joint 1st) and we had one of my Uncles crazy scavenger walks. My team consisted of most of my girl cousins that were there and we actually won that one. I then went into London on the Sunday and spent some time with James and Cheryl before meeting the American Aunt and Uncle and also Janet and Robin (the set that took me to/from family reunion/london) for dinner in Kensington. It was a really good weekend.
Home is where the heart is!! I am so lucky to be able to call two places home while I've been living in Bristol. I absolutely love living here with Grace and Rach. We have been in this house for over 9 months now (our longest yet) and by the time we leave it would of been over a year. Yep that's right, we are moving again!! This time the house is separating. Rachel is handing her notice in at work and so we are all moving. Rachel is planning on doing something abroad, Grace will move closer to work, and I will move home for the winter. With Josh moving out, his room was going to become the spare room, but since I'm going back home it will become mine for a few months. It's going to be really sad leaving the house, and Bristol and I'm going to miss being close to my friends but moving back home will be good. It'll be great to spend some time with the family, and I was home a lot last winter anyway so it makes most sense. Lucas is going to love it. The last few times I was home he's come up to me or crawled into bed and has told me that he's "missed me soooo much" and "wants me to stay forever". He's so cute. Here is a picture that he told me to take when I was home a couple of months back so that I wouldn't forget him... Awww!!
So in other news I've been pulled up for Jury Duty. It just came completely out of the blue and is something I never expected I would ever have to do. It is a legal requirement to do Jury Duty when you are called up. I was meant to go this week but asked for it to be deferred so now I am reporting for duty on November 5th. I'm a little bit excited about it to be honest . . . I love Crime shows etc so it'll be really fascinating to see/be in a jury in real life. It could end up that I report and they don't need me . . . If that happens I might be tempted just to book a holiday instead. lol
With all the miserable weather I am so tempted to transfer somewhere hot and sunny. I'm craving sunshine right now. The winter transfer list came out a couple of days ago and they need someone in Gran Canaria, it is so tempting to put my name down for it and it would be for the 5 months over the winter if I were to get it. I'm still thinking about the decision to put my name forward, but even if I do the chances of getting it are slim, after all they only need 1 person and I bet there are hundreds of crew over the network that would want to spend the winter in the canaries. However, after this winter I am considering transferring out in the summer. It's still something I'm spending a lot of time thinking about, and it will probably boil down to how I feel after Christmas. I love working out of Bristol, I love the base, and the crew, and the relaxed and friendly atmosphere we have at work, but I have this feeling that life needs a change right now and I'm not sure what it is. I guess that's what's led me to the thoughts that maybe it's time for a change at work. I guess we'll see. I might decide that staying in Bristol is what I need to do.
Open University has come to an end for the year. I have finished my module and should get the result on the 3rd August. I have also registered for the Math module for next year and was even lucky enough to be granted a partial financial aid. It means that I only have to pay £116 for the whole module which is a huge relief. Now to spend the summer going over my A-level Math so that I can refresh my brain. It's been 5 years since I've taken them and I can't seem to remember anything.
I was very lucky this year and was given 3 days of annual leave in August. I can't wait to jet out to Alicante for 5 days and enjoy sitting round by the pool or on the beach with a few good books and soaking up the sun. A few days after I come back I'll be going to the Olympics in London to see the Men's Semi-final Volleyball. I'm way excited. What a once in a lifetime opportunity. Apparently the tickets have arrived at Mum and Dads, and the train is booked :) Not long to go now.
Sorry for such a long post. It's all a bit scrambled but I wanted it updated a bit before anything else happened. Next time I'll try and tell a few of the crazy stories I've had at work recently.
