hot dang!!!

click here!!

i've published my first piece of web page on the web, all of it created by my own fair hands (with lots of help from ant when things didnt make sense).

i know its only a navigatiuon panel, but just think what the whole site will look like when its done.... and the pics actually send you to their links.

and if anyone doesnt like the photo i've used of them please send me one you do like and i'll happily change it for you.

thank yo ladies and gentlemen.

no comment!

Germany -
Despite a controversial recent history, it has had a tough and powerful history.
A modern-day technological and cultural beacon, it is still target to stereotypes and antiquited thoughts.


Positives:

Technologically Advanced.

Culturally Admired.

Global Power.


Negatives:

Target of Historical Fervor.

Constant Struggle.

Funny-Looking Ethnic Clothing.



Which Country of the World are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

well this is my first attempt at fiddling with the template from within dreamweaver.... not a lot different really.
one day...

well, i'm having a rest day today and things just got a lot better!! here's why...

You are Trinity, from "The Matrix."
Strong, beautiful- you epitomize the ultimate heroine.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Well, I really feel like I’m struggling but amazingly I have noticed that I have ‘real’ friends around me! Often when I feel like things are about to fall down around me, I look around and can’t see anyone who’s ready to pick up the pieces and help me put it back together again. This time I look around and realise that people are actually placing their hands all around so that it can’t fall down in the first place. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS PROVISION.

it makes me really realise that God has been growing me and totally answering my prayers about having friends who will give as much as I do. Andy says I give way too much and he’s so true! I give up to the point where I can’t give anymore – a place of burnout. I NEED TO REMIND MYSELF THAT GOD CAN DO STUFF WITHOUT ME! so hold me accountable to the fact that (when I have found my currently misplaced palm pilot/world) I am going to mark out days in my diary which shall be set aside for Jesus so that he can restore me and fill me and sort me out! I believe there’s a commandment I’ll be fulfilling….

on Wednesday I go for my counselling consultation. This feels good but also really scary – it means going back into places that I had thought were healed up and sorted out. At the end of it though, it’ll mean more wholeness and a good bout of therapy will make me much more akin to my American family!!!!!

throughout all of this I feel so close to the Lord which is wonderful.

11:13 - my ears are still ringing.

corporation

i dont think i've moved so much in 4 years at least!!

or have such a good night out either.

on again in 2 weeks?

its been an odd but good 2 weeks...

cast your votes now!!

since bea's started painting our backdoor, i thought i could use our wonderful computer, and my blossoming computer skills to try a few new paint schemes (just to say, not all of them were my own doing, funnily enough!):

so what do you think? emails on thoughts and suggestions to me

flippin heck - who'd thought it!

i thought i'd be the keymaker or something!

You are Neo, from "The Matrix." You
display a perfect fusion of heroism and
compassion.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

flippin heck - just seen the matrix twice today, back-to-back. made more sense of it the 2nd time round but not a lot... will definitely be seeing it again soon.

i'm not even going to try and write down what i've processed on it so far!!

and just to say (as we didnt know the first time, there's a trailer for matrix revolutions after the credits - it looks even better - much darker, and more set in the real world against the machines, apart from the bit where you see neo surrounded by an army of agent smiths, lining the streets into the distance. really cant wait for november now!! maybe you shouldnt see the trailer as it'll just make the wait even harder!!

seeing as its matrix time, i thought this'd be appropriate. i know i'd been saying i'd put up some more of these pics, so heres another:

i saw the queen (stacy- this person is the head of our country) and i had a conversation with her husband! it was very exciting. i said hello to her and i was only a matter of inches from her! this is the 2nd time i have seen her - the first was at the new millenium when i celebrated in london (stacy - this is the capital city of england) and saw her on a boat as she sailed down the thames (stacy - this is a river). anyway, i phoned my dad to tell him that i was about to see the queen and he said that he saw her when he was 8! that's a long time ago!

other than my exciting news, i am currently struggling with being super PMS bitch from a horrible place probably not too much unlike hell. life feels like a bit of a struggle but i expect once i get my period it'll be a bit better!

and what an honour it has been today to see the queen!! she was wearing something in red/pink.

it seems 'liz has been having a little nosey around the peace and winter gardens.

sarcasm is quite hard to convey on blogs it would appear...

last night was cool!!

wish you were here

hi all. new week, new party, new photos:

this one being in honour of the arrival of sovce to sheffield (middle, top row)

and just to say, i've got a job at hollywood bowl !!! starts next monday (for induction)

party tonight at ours to welcome sovce to sheffield and to SOFA! bring a bottle and i'm making roast potatoes for those that arrive early enough for there to be any left! start at 8.30ish!

hi all. the weekend has come and gone - i got to talk to some of my favourite americans which is always a big huge gift wrapped up in shiny paper with ribbons flying everywhere!

so here's what SOFA are up to this week:

tuesday night is a party for Sovce at our house to welcome her to sheffield.

wednesday night Simon and I are going to huddle in the evening so please pray. would you all like to come round to mine for tea at around 6.30? please let me know so that we can all bring something and share the provision!

thursady evening we are having a time of prayer and worship at Simon's flat. if you want to lead us in prayer, meditation or worship and have vision/ideas for something then bring it with you. i suppose that'll start at about 7.30pm.

it would be cool to eat together again this week - maybe friday although i can't remember if anything's on!

and ofcourse - don't forget that there is the beast of all parties at steve's house on saturday from 3pm til late. (it's also mark stoney's birthday on saturday too so make sure you bless him with a big cake each and a sloppy kiss!)

love you all lots... oh and ant, caroline and ben are on holiday - keep praying for them that they have a super duper time!

sorry 'bout that mat.

i love what God is doing with my husband - he is stirring up a mighty passion in him!

just seen the jungle book 2 with isla. i managed a brief kip in the middle of it and now she is sound asleep! so tired - really wanted to go to the sing-along-a-sound-of-music tonight but am far too exhausted.

on tuesday night we are having another SOFA party at our house. this time it is to welcome dan crawford's wife, Sovce, to Sheffield. (they've both just moved here but she's coming up 2 weeks late). bring a bottle and some macedonian to make her feel at home - 8.30pm onwards!

ps. you don't need to be SOFA to come along - the bigger the welcome, the better!

Iussi was a Welsh hermit who lived in the Black Mountains. He was martyred and the place of his hermitage became known as a sacred place of healing. When a merchant suffering from leprosy visited the site and was instantly healed, he left a bag of gold there in gratitude to God for his healing. The local people used the money to build themselves a church building. Patricio Church, somehow overlooked during the architectural vandalism of the Reformation, can still be visited in its breath-taking location.

A sense of adventure: a group of monks from southern Ireland got into a small rudderless boat called a coracle with no oars and no proper provisions. They cast themselves adrift and after seven days arrived in Cornwall and were brought before King Alfred. When asked why they had embarked on this somewhat unusual journey they answered, “We stole away because we wanted for the love of God to be on pilgrimage and we cared not where.” The Celtic instinct was to respond to the dynamic prompting of the Holy Spirit and then to begin adventuring and wandering with Jesus, carrying out evangelism, mission and church-planting as they went. This was pilgrimage to them.

Serf was a disciple of Ninian and, as mentioned above, became an evangelist in Fife and a mentor to Mungo. He went on to found a monastery at Culross. However, we mention him here because we love the fact that he had a pet robin. Better still, one hagiographer claimed that he discipled a lamb into the signs and wonders ministry. This ministry reached a peak when it saw a dead pig raised to life! (The Celtic Way, Bradley)

"the world is my parish"

: st patrick

and something else:

a little late perhaps...

our unity is Christ, not the church.

our vision is Christ, not a building.

our head is Christ, not man.

our hope is Christ, not the world.

our rest is Christ, not a time; and

our sabbath is Christ, not a day.

our salvation is Christ, not by works; for

our work is Christ, not a curse.

our Christ is Jesus, for there is no other.

thank you for the frodo wisdom - definitely feels right, but also hard. means a lot that you interact with our blog - bless you a zillion times!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

1. can anyone babysit tomorrow evening (friday)
2. SOFA has a big get together - hopefully all 28 of us! this is organised for 31st May, 10.30am in the Gilbert Room at Crookes. We will be very kids focused as well as letting you in on the next stage of the vision which we are moving into. Look forward to seeing you there.

by the way - if you have vision/ideas for our time together then please let us know. SOFA is your community!

as an aside - i feel tired today - isla (the 3yr old we're looking after for a week) got into bed with us at 6am this morning. last night was later than usual so my body is not reacting as i would hope! your prayers are hugely welcome!

thinking about the loneliness of being a leader. looking at Jesus he clearly had times of loneliness but he also had a tremendously close and intimate friendship group. seems so strange to have such intimacy and yet be so lonely.

pray for me as i embark on discovering greater depths of intimacy with the Lord and with others - this is what God's doing with me at the mo and it's really scary!

i think thats probably the most accurate of these quiz things we've done so far. for both of us.

today actually went quite well, and was pretty productive. i started reading this book called the "new celts" which is all about discovering celtic spirituality (and not about riverdance, tye-dye t-shirts, flute music and guinness!). so far i've gone thru the history of the celtic church in the british isles - there are some mad stories that i'll paraphrase soon and put up cause they're pretty interesting in terms of understanding why england (and the west in general) is very much like it is both mentally and spiritually.

and we've got new bloggers - robby and grace cload

You are Professor X!

You are a very effective teacher, and you are very committed to those who learn from you.
You put your all into everything you do,
to some extent because you fear failure more than anything else.
You are always seeking self-improvement,
even in areas where there is nothing you can do to improve.



Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

i am also scared of what i look like - i did this quiz twice because on a lot of the questions i wanted to give two answers - both times i came up as this character... eeek...

we're back on these again...

You are Storm!

You are very strong and very protective of those
you love. You are in tune with nature and are
very concerned with justice and humanity.
Unfortunately, certain apprehensions and fears
are very hard for you to overcome, and can
often inhibit you when most need to be strong.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

thanks to shannons blog for that one, which has also been given a make over.

oh, and if you're not getting the list of links down the side of the window over there, i dont know why either.

i've also come under a little bit of attack, although not the same as bea. i was on the way to work this morning - i'm doing invigilating at the moment which i really enjoy - being able to sit in a room and read a book or whatever and i get paid for it.

and then, on the way someone pulls up next to me playing a very loud, live version of (robert palmers?) "addicted to love" and now i have it going round my head - this is really not good when i have 6-7 hours of silence to look forward to and no way of listening to something else.

please pray for me (although i think beas situation is a bit more serious than mine).

came under real attack yesterday - feel yucky from it still so please pray. i am really frustrated because if we have the authority to call on the powerful name of Jesus and he is the King of Kings then why does the devil have so much control? in the situation concerned the devil managed to steal and destroy some very precious things and if i wasn't as in love with God as i am at the moment then maybe some stuff would have been killed off. i want to live a life that glorifies God - not through who i am but by him having room to move in me and through me. if the name of Jesus saves then i want to see more of that - not the repelling effect that it so often has!! having said that we have seen several people come to know God and start living in the kingdom over the last couple of months and i love that, but there is stil 97% of Sheffield who don't go to church and so presumably don't know how much God loves them. (nb. not that going to 'church' is the only place you can have a relationship with God. being 'curch' is a far better way!!!!)

sorry to be heavy on a monday morning. off to get dressed now and to take 3 year old isla to nursery. we're looking after her for a week - we'll try and get a photo on the blog!

cathers lent me this book (by "darren") yesterday with all these cartoons in. more over the coming days/ weeks, but this is my favorite so far!!

i was nearly sick laughing.

and a few quick little photos of the (very) newly weds, james and jenny cornell:

SOFA tonight at joy's house at 8pm. see you there!

for the rest of you - things are good - have felt like a big burden was pushing on my shoulders but God really shed light on the issue and now things have been worked through so we are taking a course of action which has made the burden lift! woo hoo!

dan austin has returned and is currently getting to grips with being back in england after his sunny spell in france for 3 months. SOFA is growing so much that it is time to step into the next bit of the vision. very excited about what God is doing!

andy and i are looking after a 3 year old for a week starting on saturday - your prayers would be very welcome! friends have already stepped up to the challenge of helping us and although i expect it'll be a shock to the system i am crazily looking forward to it!

i feel like the americans need big blessings today so i pray that you would remember and know that you are planted in the mountain of his inheritance. i ask that you have wisdom and strength to walk out along the path set before you - the journey is an exciting one after all! Holy Spirit would you fill each of them with your life and give each of them time to saturate themselves in your love. i pray for inspiration and joy to overwhelm them as they pray and that in all their relationships you would be the centre. you are great Jesus, thank you that you are always with us and your promise is that you will never leave us. AMEN!

"a post on a blog is (or at least should probably be) just a fleeting moment in a persons life"

maybe just a few more pics then....

oh yes!

the party has indeed started, and these even a new person at it - funnily enough, connected to steve, and bea has already got her questions out the way including, "can you say the alphabet backwards?" and "do you have a significant other?"

photos?

kristen and joshua have had a beautiful daughter who's name is Judah!

the image is taken off the site of one of their relatives. i'll try to reference it a bit better shortly!

By: Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple


With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.


And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves


And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.


I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired


And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells


And run my stick along the public railings


And make up for the sobriety of my youth.


I shall go out in my slippers in the rain


And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens


And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat


And eat three pounds of sausages at a go


Or only bread and pickle for a week


And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry


And pay our rent and not swear in the street


And set a good example for the children.


We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?


So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised


When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

thank you kerry and diana for this poem - today seems like the day to put it on the blog. the kingdom shoes are walking their peace around the city of sheffield and i'm sure they're causing havoc in the heavenly realms! thank you so much. i love you.

just been lookin through all friend's blogs especially all our texan friends (derek&amy, andrew jones, brad s, kristen&joshua, shannon, jessica, danny&trish, nathan, ted etc) and catching up with what they're up to and seeing all the photos they've put up.

and then i realised as i went to each ones blog, i'd close their blog and open the next from the list at the side of ours, and noticed how any of them reading our blog would see all the photos of our friends, mostly people they wouldnt know, i just looked at all the photos and thought, "they're all my friends - i'm proud of all my english ones and honoured to have all my american (and NZ) ones."

made me feel all warm and gooey (as the description goes).

might even write a haiku at some point...

whoops. posted twice.

hello all! it's been an eventful few days! lots of thigs going on and today i de-dandilioned the garden (mostly the vegetable patch to be) with cathers. great having task orientated people around. i also planted some cornflower and aster seeds which should be beautiful for the summer!

really looking forward to the party tomorrow for dan austin's return from france and also in celebration of his birthday today - same day as my mum's!!

and of the brunch? it was indeed yummy.

following on the format of saturdays photos:

note the pictured s6 scallies trashing a car outside jens house today. todays youth hey...?!

a party invite for all friends of dan austin (and those who dont know him, but would like to (or even those who just want to come along for the party!)) to come along to welcome him home to the british isles.

this will be taking place at our house (3 freedom road) tomorrow (tuesday 6th) from 7pm onwards. so please come along, bring a friend, a bottle and maybe a french phrase to make him feel (kinda) at home.

i used to be very suspicious of it, but each time i watch amelie i like it a little more - its actually getting pretty good by now - love the colours of it too - make paris look all green-tinted and intriguing.

sals just left to go home, and were off to jens now for brunh. mmmmmm!

....and what an evening it was.

not exactly like the old 80 lydgate lane parties that dan and i were reminiscing about on the way home, but excellent all the same.

and there's even a few photos...:

arrrgggghhh!!!!

i'm very excited!!

but i cant really say anything about it.

very exciting though...

beas cousin sal brewis has now arrived for the weekend, and in just a few minutes we will be going to lol and beth housewarming.

i even have a big bottle of leffe brun to go with which i'm very excited about.
there may even be a few photos later...

yesterday was acvtually pretty crap, with a few good points.

bryan's leaving party was definitely one of the good points.

today should be better (apart from having to get an auto electrician out to fix our car.

err - i was judith. so there.

the weekends here and its shaping up to be a good one - party party party (well, party party roast beef actually).

you can tell i'm at work again, cause i go on about fridays and weekends with a little excitement in my voice.

I also am Abigail, the true personality of nathan and amy's dog,
I am fun-loving, loyal, friendly, modest and optimistic.
I have found balance, and I'm never too excessive about anything.
I am salt of the earth.


Which of nathan and amy's dog's personalities are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

i'm not too sure about some of it - i am possibly one of the most excessive people i know in some ways! i certainly haven't found balance when doing yoga as i wobble all over the place but of course, i am definitely the most modest person you are ever likely to meet!!!!!!!!!!!!

a reminder to SOFA about our place being the centre for catching up and hanging out tonight from 8.30pm. look forward to seeing you there.