Graduation 20th July 2009

The day I went from Graduand to Graduate!
(and had to get up ridiculously early to do so!)

5.30am: Alarm goes off and I ignore it. Probably ended up getting up around 6.20am. Went straight in the shower in a vain attempt to wake myself up. There was a lot of faffing, Alison arrived, we left the house around 7.45am (45mins behind schedule!)

The journey down was bordering on the ridiculous (getting stuck behind lots of slow drivers etc) and we finally got to Soton around 11am.

First Stop: Wippells! Got my robes on first of all, had the hood secured, had my mortar board pinned to my head and headed straight for the official photographer.



So we had the official photos done and ordered the DVD of the Ceremony, had a look at the offical graduation merchandise and then headed off to have some lunch. We had the carvery (or Graduation Lunch as they renamed it for the day!) with lamb etc. Yummy.

Obviously I kept bumping in to people I knew: both Rob Smiths, Lizzie, Lois, Rachel, Ellie, Laura, Tom and the camera had lots of work to do!



We headed to collect our tickets next from the marquee and we also bought some issues of the Daily Echo Graduation Special Edition for posderity.

Then it was over to the Turner Sims Concert Hall for the Ceremony. We had to sanitise our hands before going in!! We were seated in alphabetical order and so I watched all the people before me. Everyone stood as the Graduation Procession came in, with all the important people (including our tutors) and they did the ceremonial cool stuff to open the ceremony. Before I knew it; it was our row's turn to stand, queue up on the stairs, listen for our name, walk across to the Vice-Chancellor, present our hands in the prayer position, chat a tiny bit with him, walk across to the other side of the hall to get our certificate, walk up the stairs out the baxck of the hall and come down again to our seats - all with military precision! Then there was the Vice-Chancellor's speech, we all stood for the ceremonial exit and then all piled out.



I bumped in to Tom at the point; we chatted, got photos, exchanged things etc before he headed off to do his photos and we went over to Avenue for the School of Humanities Champagne Reception!



Chatted to some more coursemates: Rachel, Laura, Ellie etc, but managed to miss Harriet completely! :-( Chatted for ages to Joan - my tutor for this year - which was lovely cos she has been really amazing this year and helped me loads.

Then, very sadly, it was time to head off. We went back to Highfield, handed over my robes (mega :-( there) took a last, senimental look around the campus and headed off to the car. We'd parked on Hartley Avenue, so as to avoid having to pay £5 parking fee and 3 bus fares at Wessex Lane. Whoop to free parking!
We headed down to my old house to collect the rest of my stuff and then set off for home, where we finally arrived at about 11pm!

What a day! Amazing day. Couldn't bear parting with my robes - I loved them! Oh well, I can truly say I am Educated. Celebrated. Graduated. now!




What next? Answers on a postcard please!

K*E*S*W*I*C*K 11th-18th July 2009

I'M BACK!!

Soooo, I survived a week way, way up North and all of the associated travelling. Today is my day off before GRADUATION tomorrow, so I'm having a rest, catching up on real life and sorting out what I'm going to wear tomorrow. Needless to say, it is raining and so there has had to be a rethink in the outfit department. Oh well.

Sooo, Keswick.

Well, I took the train to Stoke on Trent on Friday (10th) and overnighted there. We made yummy cake to take to Keswick and sorted out some of the crafty stuff. On the Saturday, we got to Keswick around midday and went to bag beds in the girls dorm. Good plan as the bottom bunks are much sought after!! On the way up we saw lots of the Lakes such as Grasmere and Derwentwater. Ruth took me on an afternoon tour of Keswick and we ate our lunch on the shores of Derwentwater. When most people had arrived we got our IDs and t-shirts, had a little meet n greet session and had dinner. Then we headed off together to the evening meeting.

That evening meeting would be the only one we would go to, as the purpose of our being there was to allow the parents to go to the meetings! Anyway, Sunday went like this:

Up, shower, dress in glorious blue Keswick team t-shirt, go to prayer meeting, have breakfast. Then we headed off to the the MAin Tent for the Morning Meeting where Tom Putt (our leader) was preaching and we were bigging up the kids/youth work and helping out with registration. Me and 4 others ended up going on stage and doing the actions to a song I'd never heard of - in front of a couple of thousand people!! Then we were free until our first real kids work meeting that evening - with the 8-11s!

That evening we introduced the kids to the theme for the night meetings "Faith that does stuff". They took a structure something like this: registration and outdoor games, welcome, think tanks (little buzz groups lead by two leaders), singing, the talk, singing, think tank, GAMES.

Now the games were things like the Generation Game (led by Cam), King of the Leaders (won by Tom Beaumont), Gladiators, Gunge or Glory etc. We did that each evening from Sunday-Friday.

On the weekdays our timetable was a bit like this:
7am: Up, join queue for shower, shower, dress.
7.45am or 8am: Prayer meeting for 15mins
8am or 8.15am: Breakfast!
9am: Departure for the Main Convention Centre.
9.30-10.30am: Set up the age group venues. For us this was preparing the craft and the kings for the story, listening to the story so we could tell it again, having our free cup of tea, putting out the outdoor toys and setting up registration.
10.45am: The first parents/kids show up and some of us are playing, others leading kids in and taking coats/drinks etc.
12.30pm: Kids are collected, we tidy up and head back to Rawnsley.
1.15pm: Lunch at Rawnsley
2pm til 5pm: FREE TIME! I wanted to go to the Pencil Museum but never got around to it :-( Still, there were a few nice shops - all with sales - to look around!
5pm: Our bible teaching from the main speaker (an American chap called Dale Ralph Davies) on 1 Kings. This was followed by our briefing for the evening programme and dinner.
7pm: Evening programme for 8-11s
9pm: Kids leave. We pray and debrief.
9.30pm: Freedom again! A couple of nights we went to the chippie, or there were card games or films to be watched etc.

It was an exceptionally tiring week especially given the amount of travelling required on my part!
Saturday saw us leave Rawnsley at 9am for Booths, the supermarket, where we had breakfast altogether. People left periodically over the course of the morning and I left around 11am. I got the bus from Keswick bus station at 11.20am and got to Penrith at just gone 12pm - the scenery from the bus was gorgeous! There was an hour wait at the station for the train to London Euston, but I was chatting to this missionary lady I'd met on the bus who then gave me some of her food, so the time flew past!
Then it was the Tube from Euston to Charring Cross (I was so lucky - almost every other line except the Northern Line was suspended!) and the train to Hastings from there! Total travelling time: 7hrs!

Grat week though. Amazing scenery. Wonderful kids team. Might even go again next year!

The making of Isaac and Rebekah Pain

St. Peter's Church, Woking. 4th July 2009

Well I can't believe it, Isaac and Becky are now married! I got back (eventually) from Woking yesterday and so now I can tell you all about it!

I took the train, changed at Clapham Junction (trains that is) and then changed at Woking (clothes this time!). To be honest, if I'd changed clothes at Clapham, I wouldn't've looked out of place because the train was full of race-goers who thankfully got off at Esher and those of us left on the train could actually breath (and if we were lucky, sit down!)

So in wedding attire, I left the station and who should I bump straight in to? None other than Lois and her boyfriend Jon, who were waiting to pick up Tom and Chloe! So I cadged a lift and we got to the Church with a while to spare! There were plenty of Uni people there: me, Lois, Tom & Chloe, Rob Smith, Shadrach & Naomi, Stu & Sarah, Sarah Grimm, Becca & Brian, Emma & James, Izzy & Chris, Rachel & Neil, Nikki, Hannah, Andrew Gibson and his wife and of course the bridesmaids: Rachel, Beckah, Jo, Kate and Fay. They looked lovely in their claret dresses and their hair (done by Bekah) was awesome! John-Paul, Trevor Pickup and Andrew Page (ABC) were all there too.

At some point before the ceremony, Lois managed to put her foot through the floor of the lovely 15thC church - almost up to the knee - which sparked a great deal of curiosity mixed with disdain from the elderly Verger! So that was a little bit of excitement and hilarity before the actual wedding...

The ceremony was lovely. Andrew did the address from Colossians. Shadrach read. There were some good hymns and the recessional was the theme from Star Wars!! Good taste! Whilst the registers were being signed etc, were watched a slideshow of Isaac and Becky through the years which was very sweet! For the departure of the bride and groom from the church, we lined the path and threw the confetti over them!

Photos after the ceremony took around an hour, but the photographer was very thorough and I reckon they'll be really nice! Apres ca, we all piled in to numerous small cars. Some people went to the reception (by invitation only) and the rest of us went to get some food! We ended up in Zizzi's for pizza. There were 11 of us in the end: me, Hannah, Nikki, Rach & Neil, Emma & James, Chris & Izzy, John-Paul and Trevor.

Having stuffed ourselves with pizza, we headed straight to the ceilidh - with the help of the almighty sat-nav! Well, I have to say on the subject of ceilidhs, that I am now an official fan! It was a really great way to get every single person involved and not feeling self-concious! Each new dance was explained and then walked through and then danced with the help of the leaders who had microphones. There was live music from the band and it was a riot!! Some people obviously have hidden ceilidh skills: Bekah and Kate definately! I certainly learned a few dancing terms.

Isaac and Becky left at around 9.30pm, having had their car extravagantly decorated by Rachel and Jo whilst we carried on dancing. The buffet was bought out a little before then and so we had a few snacks while we recovered from dancing. We finished at 11pm after the last dance which included everyone (caterers as well)!

Rachel & Neil gave Nikki and I a lift to the station and we got the train to Godalming where I overnighted with Nikki in her really lovely house. She drove me to the station after breakfast and I got a train straight to Clapham Junction. The the problems began!

My train to Hastings was late; delayed once, twice, three times... It was meant to leave Clapham at 11.53am and still hadn't got in at 12.20pm. So I went to a phone box to call Mum (as I still haven't got a sim card, so my new phone is still useless!). When I got back to my platform, they announced my train, but the train that pulled in said it was going to Victoria not Hastings. I asked a member of staff, but they didn't answer me and the train left. I later asked another person and they seemed to think it was fine and unremarkable that the train was displayed wrong.

Hmph. So I waited for the 12.53pm train which then whisked me away back to home. Arriving there I went to a call box, found that they don't accept 5p pieces and it being 3pm on a Sunday, there was nowhere for me to get change! I tried to place a collect call to my Mum but the MINIMUM CHARGE IS £3.90!!!. Finally I went to the self-service ticket machine, bought a £1 ticket to get some change, called Mum and got home around 4.30pm.

Here endeth the tale. I have a good mind to complain about the confusion, especially since the journey cost me nearly £30 for advance fairs! Oh well, it was a lovely weekend and great to see everyone again. Roll on August and Emma & James' big day.

Until next time: ciao!

My blog has a new wardrobe!!

Well, the title says it all really! I have a revamped blog for a new month! You may or may not like it, but this is the new look blog. Gone are the references to Disney :-( (except in the web address, since I can't change it!).

Ummm, there were a fair few to choose from and I didn't really have a favourite template, but I chose this one.

Welcome to the world, new blog!!

Watch this space (or rather that space ^ for Isaac and Becky's Wedding Blog