Blogmas - Day 10 - Candlelit Christmas Carol Service

I may have skipped two days but alas I had nothing new to add to any of those days anyway. Sure none of ye probably hadn't noticed.... up until now that is! Crap!

The first day for not publishing, I was doing it very last minute and the website was down. Then yesterday I was exhausted. Coming in the door from placement, I ate then napped for 3 hours, was awake for 2, then fell asleep for another 6 hours. I was all over the place with my sleeping pattern.

I just wanted to tell you all about the Candlelit Christmas Carol Service that was on in Canterbury Cathedral. I sang along with the gospel choir and the amplified sounds of our harmonies bouncing off all of the walls of the cathedral was amazing. There were other choirs there singing beautiful carols such as In the Bleak Midwinter, a favourite of mine and O Come All Ye Faithful. There was a little orchestra and contemporary ballet dancers, with the candles glow reflecting off their white costumes. They were almost like angels dancing to the crowd of 1100 people.

Even though I got candle was all over me, I still had a wonderful, peaceful time.

After getting our pictures taken with our conductor lying out in the front of us, we all made our way to the Uni canteen to get free mince pies and elderflower.

Source: WeHeartIt

I LOVE candles!! And everyone knows this about me. They know I love soft light. I love to have fairy lights, candles and lamps. Even my room here in Canterbury has fairy lights and church pillar candles at the fireplace. In my home in Ireland we always have candles. My family goes nuts for it. Seriously, even my dad!

I even got my mum to buy a huge candle lantern for outside our house, for Christmas.

And the reason why we've always had candles is, is that my mum is a freak for electricity, and she bloody well is right! Whenever we have had power cuts it makes no difference with getting around, we still can see where we're going. Plus you don't really need them if it's your home! You should know your own house off by heart.

So each Christmas we always have a tonne of lights!! I even got my dad to buy me these pretty lights one Christmas and put them on my ceiling in the shape of a tree!!

I can't wait to see my glowing house when I get back!!

Just one week guys... 1 WEEK!

Festive Feelings :: 2 :: Lights, Church, Family & Hope!

More than the majority of people love Christmas decorations, reason probably being that they're so pretty. I'm a person who gets bored quite easily with routines and the such, with seeing the same old buildings everyday, but come Christmas the towns are all lit up and decorated in celebration. We all wish that the lights would stay up forever, but then where would that leave us? We wouldn't have anything to look forward to throughout the year.

I love to give myself a goal and to achieve it. Mistakes is what I learn from and what I am thankful for. And Christmas is the goal where family is the center point of the holiday. I myself get excited about going to Mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, more so than the revealing of gifts. They're very much appreciated and valued, but it shouldn't be what matters. I get annoyed myself with seeing how the media, tv adverts and the likes are just portraying Christmas to people as a time for getting excited over gifts. You know what gets me excited? Just normal days out with family and friends. I'm that kid who picks up a toy for a few minutes then forgets about it the next.

Going to Church I see a whole community, full of families, no matter what sizes they are, come together to sing and pray. My brother says he doesn't pray, but he enjoys coming to be apart of something. It's nice to have tradition. Hearing the most wonderful hymns, such as my favourites; Silent Night, Oh Holy Night, The First Noel, Hallelujah and Panis Angelicus. They to me sound so magical. So yes, going to Carol Services is always a must every year. Back home in Ireland, on Christmas Eve, I go only for the music, beautifully lit candles and the peaceful atmosphere. Candles make me feel hopeful and uplifted. Sometimes I lay there at night, staring at the flame. Just meditating upon it and clearing my mind.

Lights give me hope, Church gives me hope and family gives me hope! I'm not a positive person but I am in a way a strong person. And one goal in my life is to hang on to whatever hope I have.

Thankful Thursday | Family & Food

This week was pretty fun, even though there were days when I felt blue, but gladly enough I had my family and pleasurable leisure's to keep my mind occupied. It did feel slow though, this week. A lot happened and it was all pretty random.

Last Friday evening, I had a lovely meal with my parents. Dad had his usual burger and Mum went for the pasta. My parents pay attention to each other rather than to their kids, but hey I'm happy that they're happy. At least I get free food out of them from time to time.

Afterwards, we drove to Knock Airport which is perhaps the tiniest airport you could possibly see. It's on a huge hill and is positioned in the middle of no where. The best thing about it is not having the fuss to go through all the security. It doesn't take very long.

We picked up my grandfather who came over for a weekend visit, just to collect some belongings and to see the family. Of course we stopped off on the way home to get him a pint of Guinness. It was nice to see how excited and relaxed he was with his drink. Looking forward to meeting people that he hadn't seen since six years ago. It always feels good after being away from home for so long, to return to a place that appears the same yet so different. I knew how he felt in a way, coming back and feeling pretty damn emotional.

I enjoyed spending the weekend with him and my Dad. We snuck into our relatives homes, and surprised them with great joy. No one knew he was coming over you see, all part of the fun. And as well as joy there was also a little sadness. A cousin of ours in the family has cancer and seeing the change in them has brought back memories of my gran. It must have been hard though I thought at the time, for my grandad to see them. Who knows when he'll visit next. Could be five years, could be ten? You make the most of it. The time you spend with your loved ones.

And there they were, my grandad, dad and their cousins drinking pints in the pub, getting reacquainted after so many years gone by, and there I was running after the kids, trying to keep them entertained (and distracted).

On Monday, I stayed the night in Dublin. Got around to seeing Malahide at last. Mum has been ranting on and on how one day she'll be living there. Supposedly because the celebs of Ireland (if there are any) are living there.

The town itself was cute with its many boutiques, its own Starbucks (have been away from it for too long) and lovely restaurants. We had two lovely meals there, Monday and Tuesday, because it seems the burgers in 'Scotch Bonnet' were too amazing to just have the one time.

Mum was very cheeky to have bought herself a Jo Malone candle. Was I jealous? YES!! But alas, do not worry, I myself will buy one in time. I already have my eyes on one particular. My Mum favoured the English Pear and Freesia scent, which I have to agree is a wonderful, fresh smell.

Are there any great spots for food in Dublin that you know of? Do let me know, I'm all ears. And to those of you that may enjoy Jo Malone, or as my brother mistakenly called it, Johnny Maloney, let me know of any favourite scents of yours that deserve to be put by my bedside.

30 Day Snap #15 | Check-lists & a Yankee candle farewell!

Hello all,

Yesterdays Snap collage involved a day of making my usual check-list for the week and of also planning out a list of needs & wants for my returning to Ireland.

I felt peckish before heading off to work, so I had a cup of tea and a Mr. Kipling's lemon slice. I also had the misfortune of saying goodbye to my Yankee candle. Don't laugh, it was a very emotional time for me! The flame going out and me silently screaming, "Noooooooooooo!"

I'm making plans already for home, I'm just going over and over in my head in what to bring. Deep down I'm excited but I'm trying not to show it so much. My brother tells me not to raise my expectations, that I could become easily disappointed if anything bad happened. Thanks for cheering me up Aran!

Ooooh, that reminds me. I need to make a list of what to do while I'm on holidays in Scotland. I already have a Harry Potter related list for Edinburgh, thanks to my very good friend Peachy.

Do you find that writing a check-list helps you? I myself like to have it colour coded, making it more personal and creative.

Thanks for reading sheep peeps,

30 Day Snap #12 | My own Spa day with old classics

Hiya,

Yesterday was a day of eugh and hmmm, and 'God I'm bored!'

So with not knowing what to do, I decided to have a spa day.

That meant, reading out in the sunshine, singing with my guitar, watching old movies - 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' and 'Sabrina', having a relaxing bath with candles and tea. Then I had the lovely pleasure of painting my nails & applying a face mask.

This little pip-sqweek keeps taking my only sheep from me (the one on the left.) I being my very generous self, allow her to take him to bed, in the hope that she thinks that I'm giving her cuddles throughout the night.

Even with the day being so relaxing, I still got lost in thought. Sometimes this annoys me because I get irritated in my own mind. I just feel so guilty knowing that there's more productive things to be doing, rather than relaxing. But I just procrastinate and procrastinate. The best distraction is to talk to people that you know will distract you from your worries and anxieties.

But when there's no one to talk to, what should I do? What is the best distraction for any of you, that understand how I feel?

Thanks for reading giggle-piggles,