Oh, I do like to be by the seaside

I'm slowly trying to catch up with the blog posts I said that I'd write in more detail as well as maybe keep up to date with what I'm doing at the moment. However, these may end up out of chronological order - I started a draft post about my fieldtrip to Ireland but it never saved, and so that one will probably be up after a couple of other posts.

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This post is going to be about the first week in June - both Alex and I had finished our exams which meant that we had a week until I had to move out of my university accommodation to be able to do things in and around Aberystwyth. As we got together in November, this meant that we hadn't really been able to do things together out and about as living by the sea meant that we get cold, windy weather and unfortunately, it's not very easy to do things in Aberystwyth in the horrible weather. We kept checking the weather forecast as we all know, it is prone to change, and thankfully although a couple of days didn't look to be too promising, the rest of the week didn't look to be too bad and we planned to make the most of the sunshine.

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Borth Animalarium is the local zoo, about 5 miles away from Aberystwyth and although I've been twice before, I love going to zoos and so Alex agreed to go with me as he hadn't been before. At Borth Animalarium they have a mixture of animals, none particularly large like tigers or elephants but smaller animals, meerkats and numerous species of monkey. You get to feed the animals too, something which I don't think happen oftens in larger zoos. Although you can buy 'feed pots' at the zoo, there isn't a lot of food in them and seem to be aimed more at the children who visit, so they can experience feeding the animals. This doesn't mean that I wasn't going to feed them though. Before going, we bought some peanuts from Lidl to feed the monkeys when we got there as this way we could feed all of the monkeys instead of just a couple before running out of food. My favourite monkey at Borth is a capuchin called Mango - he's fatter than the other ones in his enclosure and I think he is probably the dominant male.Often, when you try to feed the other monkeys, he scares them off in order to get the food. Alex and I managed to feed the others some peanuts though by one of us keeping Mango occupied with food. We also watched the reptile show which wasn't as good as I remember. Previously, they showed us 4 or 5 reptiles including a Bearded Dragon, a tortoise and a variety of snakes; however, this time they only showed a couple. We were also unable to have the 13 stone Bermuda Python put around our necks as it was having to be taken out of its tank again for another show later on in the day.

After we'd finished at the zoo, we still had a good half day left and as the weather had brightened up, it seemed pointless to go back to Aberystwyth just yet. We headed north along the coast, aiming to get toYnyslas beach which, unlike the beaches at Aber and Borth, is sandy. Although we didn't go all the way to the sandy dunes at Ynyslas, we did make it to a patch of sandy beach which was pretty deserted, and we plonked ourselves down on the beach there. And then, for the first time since coming to Aberystwyth, I properly went in the sea (well, kind of - I went up to my knees, but the waves went higher). The water was freezing (well, not literally, but it was very cold), and my feet felt numb at first but it was fun, and I really enjoyed myself. We headed back to Borth about an hour and a half before the last bus, so that we knew that we'd be back in time, and we'd also have time to get something to eat. We went into a pub/hotel that I'd been to once before with the geography society (GeogSoc) in my first year, and we got some cheesy chips. I can remember I used to think that the concept of cheesy chips was weird, but they are so nice - especially when the cheese has melted properly and is all stringy- yummy!

As we were walking along the sea wall, waiting for our bus, a car had hooted at us - we looked down (the sea wall is raised above the road) to see that the new rector at St. Mike's Church and his wife were waving to us. I think that this was really lovely of them, as they had only met us for the first time the previous week, so it was nice to see that they recognised us.
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Another main day trip that we did (taking place on the Thursday) was our walk to Borth which happened by accident. Our original plan had been to walk to the next bay to Aberystwyth at Clarach, have a little rest, then walk back over Constitution Hill. However, when we got to Clarach, there wasn't really anywhere to sit (the beach isn't that nice), and Alex had said to me 'I saw a sign saying this was Clarach's South Beach, so there must be a North Beach.' I wasn't completely sure having walked further last summer when my parents came to pick me up at the end of first year, but I figured I may have been mistaken. So we continued on our journey, and up ahead we soon realised that the beach we initially thought could have been Clarach's 'North Beach' was in fact Ynyslas, where we'd been a couple of days previously. By this time, we'd walked about half way to Borth so we didn't see the point in turning round, especially as we were beginning to get hungry. So in the end, we walked the 6 miles that it was to Borth. 

Despite all my moans and grumbles about the hills we were climbing, I did enjoy myself; and when we arrived in Borth we treated ourselves to a massive lunch at The Victoria Inn. Before getting the bus back, we put the blanket I'd brought with me down on the beach (despite the pebbles, it wasn't too bad), and just lay there enjoying the sunshine for a couple of hours. I ended up getting sunburnt on the back of my neck because I hadn't been sensible and put suncream on, however, thankfully my sunburn usually turns to tan fairly quickly and by the Sunday I was brown. 

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Also, in this week, we went down to the seafront in Aberystwyth, and unfortunately as some days had bad weather, we did have to stay in for a lot of the day, making a break for it when the weather happened to brighten up to make the most of the week. I had a really lovely week though, and I'm glad that I got to see some more of the local area, particularly as I'll only have another year there as in September I'll be entering my third, and final, year.

Summer

Well, it's been a long time since I last blogged. I've finished my second year at Aberystwyth University and summer has arrived. I plan on changing my blog around at some point, maybe even switching to WordPress - my brother's fiancée has recently done this and it seems as though WordPress allows more to be done :)

This post is just going to be a brief overview of the past few months and then I hope to blog on more detail about some of the things I've done or will do this summer.

Last time I wrote, I'd just been baptised at my church in Aberystwyth where my mum and grandparents had come over especially to watch. That was in February and although nothing major has happened in my life, life has continued to move forward.

I suppose an important event that occurred was that my brother proposed to his girlfriend (the fiancée mentioned previously) whilst they were on holiday in Athens. They've been together since they were 17 and he's almost 22 so I'm guessing it was the naturally the next stage in their relationship.

I also had my geography field trip to Killarney in Ireland. For saying that Ireland is so close it's the first time I've ever been. I had my worries about the trip as the things that were going to be looked at weren't really my cup of tea but I managed to get through the week, without too much trouble.

Over the Easter holidays I went back to working at McDonald's for the first time since my brother died; I wasn't sure how it would go to begin with - I thought I'd have forgotten what to do but it seems like it never goes away. Lots of new people have started working there, some of them in Kieran's year at school which not only makes me feel old, but makes me realise what Kieran is missing out on in terms of getting a job, going to college, having a future ahead of him.

After Easter at uni I had my final exams for second year and I feel as though they went much better than the one I had in January which is a good sign I hope :)

Despite finishing my exams on the 23rd May, I didn't go home from Aber until the 7th June - this was so that Alex and I could actually spend some time going to places and just relaxing instead of having essays or revision to do. Thankfully the weather was mostly nice so we could go to the beach and make the most of our seaside location :)

I was only home two days though before heading down south to see my family. My parents have gone away to Germany for the week and Aidan is still at Loughborough so I'd have been home alone and since Kieran died I haven't really liked being in the house on my own. So, I've been down in Essex from Tuesday until Saturday seeing my cousins and my Auntie and Uncle (I wish there was a word that co-joined these like how you have siblings for brothers and sisters). Now I'm at my grandparents's until Tuesday when I head back to the Midlands.

Over the summer I've got a few things planned involving a Mission Week with my church in Aberystwyth (the students go to another parish and help out there), visiting Alex in Wales as well as starting work on my dissertation and working at McDonald's. I think I'm in for a pretty busy summer so hopefully I'll actually have things to blog about for once :)

026. baptism

Last Sunday (16th February) I got baptised. it was me and three other people who had decided to get baptised. For those of you who don't really understand this, it's a symbol to show that you've decided to give your life to Christ and that there's turning back. That doesn't mean that there won't be struggles in your life, or that you won't stray sometimes; but I've chosen to have God in my life and I know that no matter what happens, He'll be there with me along the way.
Although I've always been a Christian - I was brought up in a Christian family, and I've never really known any different - I have drifted and strayed from God, thinking that I could do things along; particularly in sixth form, and I didn't really live my life the way that I wanted to, or how any Christian tries to. Baptism for me was a reaffirmation of my vows and the church I go to in Aberystwyth (St Michael's or St Mike's as everyone calls it) performs a full immersion baptism, meaning that I was dunked in water and got very wet.
J-D, the curate of St. Mike's, invited the four of us up to the front where we had to answer the questions that meant we were confirming our faith towards God, and rejecting the devil. As another part of the baptism service, I was asked to give my testimony - about why I was choosing to get baptised.

Testimony (this is what I read out to everyone - although this is only really part of everything that happened to bring me to baptism stage; I shall write a post with my full testimony at some point):
"I was christened as a baby and then, when I was 13 I got confirmed. Since then, I've had ups and downs in my faith and relationship with God. Last year at university I didn't go to church but I felt distant from God, and had decided that I would go to church during my second year. In the summer, the death of my younger brother whilst my family and I were on holiday made me feel the need to go to church and become closer to God even more important. Although originally going to St. Paul's, the joining of CU (Christian Union) and meeting a special someone there made me come to St. Mike's, which has strengthened my faith and helped me grieve and because of this closer relationship with God, I've wanted to reaffirm my baptismal vows."

Reading my testimony out to the congregation of St. Mike's was difficult for me for two reasons. I hate public speaking anyway, and the fact I was having to tell everyone about the death of my brother was quite a challenge. I almost cried during it, but God had answered my prayer, and he was my strength; keeping me going and stopping me from breaking down. After reading my testimony, we all went over to the baptistry - a pool within the church that is filled with water, and I got baptised. The symbolism behind being lowered under the water is to show that our old life is dying, and when we are brought back up, it's to show that we've been born again in Christ, and are accepting our new lives with him. The idea of the water is also to symbolise that through Christ we have been washed clean of our sins; as when Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, he died so that are sins may be forgiven and that through him, believers may have eternal life.

It was a really good day, and I'm glad that I made the decision to get baptised and commit myself to Christ. Although this past week has been somewhat of a struggle - my emotions have been all over the place and I've just wanted to cry at everything - I know that God is always with me, and that He will never let me go it alone, even if I sometimes stray from Him - which I no doubt will.



Me in the pool with J-D and Katy who baptized me (apologies that the photo isn't very clear)