Life With Louise

My Baptism

2008-04-27T22:21:00.005Z

O precious sight, my Saviour stands,
Dying for me with outstretched hands.
O precious sight, I love to gaze,
Remembering salvation’s day,
Remembering salvation’s day.
Though my eyes linger on this scene,
May passing time and years not steal
The power with which it impacts me,
The freshness of its mystery,
The freshness of its mystery.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

Behold the God-man crucified,
The perfect sinless sacrifice.
As blood ran down those nails and wood,
History was split in two,
History was split in two.
Behold the empty wooden tree,
His body gone, alive and free.
We sing with everlasting joy,
For sin and death have been destroyed,
Sin and death have been destroyed.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

It's Amazing...

2008-02-25T20:35:00.002Z

... how differently you get treated in airports when you're wearing a suit! I walk through Bristol Airport all the time, looking like a tramp and no-one pays one blind bit of attention, but the minute you look respectable, everyone is very nice... you should try it sometime.

It's also amazing that I managed to get an Ultraviolet lamp containing mercury through security this afternoon in my hand luggage! All in the name of Physics!

Freedom

2008-02-16T10:44:00.006Z

As you may or may not know, I was in Milan for a couple of days this week. While I was there, I went to all of the tourist sights, and in particular spent quite a lot of time in The Duomo - one of the world's largest churches. I was able to walk around this massive building, as well as climb stairs leading to the roof, where I was able to see over all of Milan. It really was quite impressive, and significant to think that in 313AD, it was the Edict of Milan that Emperor Constantine signed, allowing Christianity to be legalised and removed any barriers to Christian worship in the Roman Empire.

The Edict of Milan transformed the status of Christianity, as it initiated the period known by Christian historians as the Peace of the Church. Constantine became the first emperor to actually promote and grant favors to the Church and its members.

Despite the fact that the Roman world was now free to worship Jesus openly, without fear of persecution, I couldn't help but notice the confessional boxes as a I wandered through the church. I understand the Biblical Motivation for confessing sin to each other, in order that we may be healed, but often when I am extremely important religious buildings I get a sense of how easy it is to get caught up in religion, that is binding, restricting and sometimes suffocating rather than celebrate the freedom that we have in Christ... for it is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1)

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need". - Hebrews 4:15-16

新, nieuw, nouveau, neu, νέος, ново, nuevo

2008-02-04T12:37:00.000Z

I met a friend for a very early breakfast on Saturday morning, who inspired me to blog once again. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, but I hope to start writing a little more this year. Recently, I have found myself being exceptionally thankful for the people in my life, and I feel that it is only right to invest time in these relationships and enjoy them while the opportunity exists. I’m not suggesting that I’ll stop being friends with people, but circumstances may change, and I may not live with them or be near them, I may not be able to pop on a plane and see them or I may not always be able to identify with their current situations or environments. I guess I want to really spend this year investing in the people that I love, and pursuing a depth of relationship that doesn’t care about keeping up appearances or looking all sorted. So often, I think we miss the blessing of being really close to people, because we take so long to warm up to it. There are lots of awesome people out there, and I don’t want to miss out on the chance of really getting to know their heart. We’re made for relationship and community, and I realise that I’m saying a Christian cliche, but it just so happens that it’s true.

Another current musing...

2 Corinthians:16,21“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! … We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

I really recommend that you all listen to this cracking sermon about how we are dead to sin, and alive in Christ. We longer have to to live as slaves of the law, but instead, we are new. We died with Christ, and now we’ve been born again. I hope that this year, I will be able to keep this at the front of my mind, as I remember my status before God. We have been given the righteouness of Christ, and that’s quite the gift!

Be My Everything

2007-07-12T12:27:00.000Z

God in my living,
There in my breathing,
God in my waking,
God in my sleeping,
God in my resting,
There in my working,
God in my thinking,
God in my speaking,

Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything.

God in my hoping,
There in my dreaming,
God in my watching,
God in my waiting,
God in my laughing,
There in my weeping,
God in my hurting,
God in my healing.

Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything.

Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me,
The hope of glory,

You are everything.

KOG Poem

2007-07-07T10:48:00.000Z

This love I feel,
Runs over my skin,
Through my veins,
In my dreams.
Causes me to sing.
Releases the passion,
Longing and excitment
That get so deeply
Stored in my soul,
Like I've never known before,
Giving sensations of real height,
So high I start to glide.
The breeze in my face,
The wind in my hair,
Birth a longing
To never be away
From this creation
I've met here,
In this place.
Now all I need in this life,
Is to make my home
Right here,
In your
Embrace

Fotos del Perú

2007-06-30T11:08:00.000Z

More photos of the Student work:
http://strath.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2398&l=19fab&id=339100085

More photos of Working in the Community:
http://strath.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2397&l=75b88&id=339100085

More photos of Working in the AGEUP house:
http://strath.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2395&l=b62f9&id=339100085

More photos of the people of San Martin:
http://strath.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394&l=ad150&id=339100085

Graduate

2007-06-27T12:29:00.001Z

The Last Days

2007-06-23T00:28:00.000Z

So, my time in Peru is to an end... and it has been wonderful. This last week was spent in Carabayllo, with the San Martin community, laying a floor, fixing the play park, painting and playing with the children. On the Wednesday, we had a party in the new community centre, and danced the afternoon away to some traditional Peruvian beats. Last night saw all the students gathered together to discuss environmental issues, and tonight AGEUP are having "something" for us. I leave tomorrow as the STEP guys go on a short holiday. More details reflections later... but for now, I'm off to eat some guinea pig!

Gringos

2007-06-14T00:16:00.000Z

Gringos - the moderately offensive term for white people, but one that is said through a cheeky grin and with the loving eyes of the old ladies at the San Martin community. The people here have been so kind to us, even though they have so little. San Martin is a small of community of approximately 70 people, lying about 1 hour out of Lima centre. The conditions are terrible, with no electricity or running water, and no real houses, just what can be made from the scraps of wood and materials found in the government rubbish dump that these people have settled beside. We have been in the community every day since I last updated... helping them out practically with the work in the community hall. We have been laying a floor there (our new area of expertise) as well as fixing up the play park, and having some time with the kids. It really is a priviledge to meet these people every day and see the smiles on their faces. Despite being a very poor place, there really is a sense of peace there, possibly due to the more mountainous location and the relaxed way of life. The work has been tiring, but also rewarding today as we saw our first signs of progress. The Peruvian way of working doesn´t always make sense to me... but we have to go with their flow, even if it does means continously shifting rocks from one place to another! I will be back in UPC university tomorrow, with a few of the students that we met last week, while the majority of the team continues the work in the community. I hope that we will be able to complete the work here before our time is up, in an effort to try and make the lifes of these poor Peruvians a little brighter.

One Week On

2007-06-09T16:04:00.001Z

Hello Everyone!

So, I´ve been here for nearly a week now, and we´ve been doing quite a lot of stuff.

On Monday we were on the building site all day, mixing cement for the new building at the back of the AGEUP house. This was the most physically draining work of the week, and will probably be the most tiring of the trip. Once the floor was laid, professionals have been in everyday to put on the roof, and it´s coming along nicely.

On Tuesday we were painting outside the house, and removing a large concrete ledge to make way for new stairs. It wasn´t keen on moving, but eventually after lots of sledge hammering it came down. That night we also went out to a traditional Peruvian dance hall, and watched some dancing and took part as well. It was really good fun!

On Wednesday, we continued with the outside practical work and began painting inside as well. We had the chance to have a quick game of football with Edwin (our security guard) that night, and he came in to join afterwards to join our team devotions.

On Thursday, the team split into groups and visited different universities throughout the city to encourage the Christians there. Myself and 4 others went to UPC University and joined with a small group of Christian students there, who meet every week to hear a speaker and discuss a Bible passage. We had a great time with these students, and joined them in having a Chinese for lunch, awesome!

Yesterday we went to visit yet another university (Lima has 23) where we had a tour, and visited a sports stadium, and in the the evening we had an English Bible Study in our house. The English Bible study was really good, because we paired up one on one with the Peruvian students to chat about God´s word. It´s good to help the students with English and also us with Spanish! I feel that I know so much more now, even if my grammar isn´t wonderful.

That was quite a long one... hope you enjoyed!

Louise <><

Hola Mi Amigos

2007-06-04T17:06:00.000Z

So, I´ve successfully made the transcontinental journey to Lima, Peru and met up with the team last night. The journey was quite long, but KLM treated me very well, and I was able to watch plenty of films and eat plenty of free food.

The team have been working hard and have cleared the whole area where we are going to be building and this morning we mixed some cement by hand, and chipped away some of the plaster on the walls to make way for stairs. We should be building during the week, and going to help out at the "community" for a few days. There will also be the chance to get involved in what the Peruvian students in the CU are doing here.

It´s surprisingly cold! My team went on the hunt for jumpers the other day, but it seems like Glasgow has hardened me and I´m not really cold at all. Not sure how much I´ll be able to update, but I´ll write as much as I can.

Take it easy,
Louise

Graduand

2007-05-22T17:24:00.000Z

Until June 25th...

Graduand is often defined as "a person who has completed the requirements for a degree but has not yet had the degree conferred." A search in older editions of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Webster’s Collegiate and other respected dictionaries does not yield this word, so it seems to have a recent or regional source. One suggestion is that "graduand" originated in Scotland. It was certainly being used at the University of Glasgow in 1974 with precisely the meaning given above.

... but before then, Peru!

http://www.stepteams.org/index.php

Matthew Howell

2007-05-03T15:55:00.000Z

When we've been there ten thousand years...

Bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun.

Much loved, and greatly missed,
An inspiration to many,
Rest in peace

“His passion was Jesus, whom he served as president of Dalriada School’s Christian Union in Ballymoney and with Operation Mobilisation in Uruguay during his gap year before attending St Andrews University.”

During Exam Season

2007-05-03T15:50:00.000Z

Sgurr Alasdair

2007-04-18T14:57:00.000Z

"To describe the ascent as a walk involves a fair amount of elasticity in translation. The Great Stone Chute represents a corner of purgatory set aside for hard line masochists" - Some wise walking book.

But that's where we went, and it wasn't half as bad as the book made out - it was actually quite fun. On the way, we stopped at Loch Lomond, The Falls Of Falloch, Glencoe, Fortwilliam and castle. Here's a picture of the 4 of us, at some random waterfall:

After adding another Murray (Alan) to our collection, we began our climb. The highest peak in the photo below is where we climbed to. It's called Sgurr Alasdair and is the highest peak in the Cuillins and on Skye. On the way up, we stopped at a Corrie, where there was loch, before continuing up the scree to the summit. Even after we were on the way down, I still stood in amazement and asked HOW we got up there!

But we did, Wah-hey....! More photos on Facebook, or at your request.

Twenty-One

2007-03-22T11:55:00.000Z

Hello - that's right I'm still alive - but you know your blog is in a terrible state when your faithful followers (Richard and Deirdre) ask what's going on... I haven't blogged since Germany, mainly because time is really flying in! My working life has been filled with brain segmentation and image pre-processing and the rest of the time I've been travelling here and there, entertaining the masses and watching vast amounts of rugby.

February saw a few gigs (Switchfoot, Brand New, SixStarHotel) and trips to London and Cambridge, and the start of the much loved Six Nations. I satisfied one of my greatest desires in London, when I saw Les Mis in the West End - marvellous!

Now, into March, I'm still recovering from the 21st birthday party. Everyone loves a ceilidh and pudding, and I was glad to welcome about 10 friends from home as part of the celebrations. My living room floor was turned into 1 giant bed and much banter followed. Here are some photos, thanks to Mr Strong:

April is approaching, but a visit to Chester and Lancaster is a must before March is out! Oh yeah, I'm a final year engineer... should probably do something about that! Have some brain segmentation, to prove that I do do something!

Hauptbahnhof

2007-01-26T16:54:00.000Z

Hello! I'm in Germany at the moment, visiting the young Wilson in Freiburg, and it's great. I arrived into Basel airport in Switzerland on Wednesday night, and was greeted with a blanket of snow. After finding Jamie at the familiar train station, we headed up to his flat before going out. We ended up staying out to about 5 in the morning, before going back to a friend's for a cup of tea. The late evening confused me a little the next day, making me feel that I'd been here much longer.

Today we ventured up to Lake Titisee, and tomorrow we may pop down to Basel in Switzerland. I don't know if you've ever seen the film Pot Luck, about being an international student, but it definitely seems to be a more accurate representation of Erasmus life that I ever imagined. There are lots of people here from all over the show, and they're all very nice, and are making the most of their year abroad.

That's all for now,
Tschuuusssssss

I Celebrate The Day

2006-12-23T12:58:00.000Z

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey:
If only I could find the words to say
To let You know how much You've touched my life

Because here is where You're finding me,
In the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes
Did You realise that You would be my Saviour?
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever?

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes
Did You realise that You would be my Saviour?
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever?

And so this Christmas I'll compare
The things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes
Did You realise that You would be my Saviour?
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever?

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray
For You to save my life

Holidays Are Coming

2006-12-20T18:12:00.000Z

OK guys, I've written to Colca Cola about the lack of the "Holidays Are Coming" advert, and I hope that the much loved advert will be back on our screens very soon. You can help however - get yourselves on over to their web-site and get voting!

It's really strange that Coke have such control over us, and that changing an advert causes such uproar, and that we don't feel like it's Christmas until we see it, but sure, I've decided to embrace it. Also, I'm sure you knew, cause you're intelligent people, but the reason that Santa is red, is all due to Coke! The power of advertising, huh!

http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/christmas/TvAdvertVote.asp?advert=2

Also, if you're on Facebook, join the group:

Name:
It isn't Christmas until the Coke advert is shown on TV

Description:
Holidays are comin,Holidays are comin,Always Coca Cola!Those words, on the snowy, festive advert, signify the beginning of the christmas period. Until the advert is seen on TV it just doesn't feel like christmas.Ok, it appears that the advert has been changed for this year and the theme no longer features. However lets give it until nearer Christmas as Coke may pull it out of the bag!! If not then boycott Coke, FOREVER!!

See you very soon!

Advent

2006-12-08T11:57:00.000Z

Well Christmas is approaching - horrah! This year, instead of exchanging presents, Mhairi and myself decided to swap home made advent calendars instead. Please see a picture of one of these masterpieces below:

Also, when you think of Christmas you think of snow and ice, so a trip to George Square's ice skating rink was a must. It was great fun, and I wasn't too bad considering I haven't skating in quite a while. I still haven't mastered the backwards thing though, no matter how much I stick my bum out. Maybe I'll have to again before Christmas to get some more practice?

And with the snow and horrible pre-Christmas weather, another natural activity is to run around in large boiler suits and masks, through the squelching mud and over rain covered ground, chasing 'brown team' people to shoot them with paintballs - maybe not? Well, that's where we found outsevles on the 2nd December for Ewan's birthday. Another great day, and the bruises live on to remind us of it. Here's a wee photo of the troops:

Until next time!

Signs of 'The Times'

2006-11-23T16:55:00.000Z

Hope you liked the pun in the title, but maybe you didn't notice, or don't quite understand... do read on!

Just realising that I never wrote back about the debate, so I should do that very quickly. In summary, it went very well, with the motion of God not existing being overturned. As a result of the debate there has been some chat around campus, as many people (around 300) attended the event, and many others heard about it also. We are eagerly waiting to see what the newspaper will say, in the hope that this will stir even more conversation regarding this topic. Thanks for the support and prayers - it was also really encouraging to see how many people came together to pray for this event, with a great sense of unity.

Another CU related issue - you may have noticed the article in The Times (get the title now?) about Christian Unions being disaffiliated with their Student Bodies and generally causing a bit of a stir. I've included some links to national and local newspaper that have recently published articles about this, as well as UCCF's response. I think it's really important that we get together on this issue too and pray into it and support our fellow Christians who are having bother, and remember that God is gracious, so we should be too.

http://www.uccf.org.uk/news/supportersnews.php?NewsID=1310

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-2460047.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,542-2458692.html

On our own affiliation status - Strathclyde CU is NOT affiliated with our Students' Union, due to our Statement of Faith being 'exclusive'. This does strip us of the privledges of financial aid from the Union, and we're not allowed to publicise in the Union buildings, but we still maintain relatively good relationships with the Union, so our status doesn't case the same level of concern. Reaffiliation has been something that was discussed at committee meetings, but have decided not to proceed this time. Our last attempt to reaffilate (last year) was rejected, and would only be reconsidered if we changed our constitution.

Hope this one hasn't been too dull for you!

The GOD Debate

2006-11-07T16:05:00.000Z

The Debates Society and Strathclyde Christian Union present:

THE GOD DEBATE
"This house believes there is no God"
Thursday 9th November 2006 @ 7:30pm
Debates Chamber, Level 6 of the Students Union

There will be speakers on each side and an open floor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello guys! So this is the big event of the week, and one that it would cool if you could pray for (if you are praying people). A bit of background is that the Debates Society approached the CU about doing this debate, and we felt that it was an amazing opportunity that shouldn't be missed. Much preparation has gone into it, and it should be a great night.

Please pray for us as prepare to "give the reason for the hope that we have" (1 Peter 3:15-16) and as "we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5) but also that we can be a witness in our gracious and humble attitudes (2 Timothy 2:24).

The Strathclyde CU line up is as follows:

Dan Petersen
UCCF Staff Worker - Cosmological Argument (Philosophical)
Louise Glenn
Strathclyde Engineering Student - Design Argument (Scientific)
Gareth Webb
Glasgow CU Classics Student - Moral Argument (Personal)
Sean Clokey
Former UCCF Relay worker, now lawyer - Conclusion and Anti-Atheism

It's also possible that the Strathclyde Telegraph (local paper) will be at this event, and many more people who didn't attend may read about it, so please all pray for the longer lasting ripples of this high profile event. Cheers and will keep you posted!

A Pot Of Tea?

2006-11-02T16:55:00.000Z

Over the last week something very strange happened to me - I was overcome with a desire to attempt something that I don't normally do, something, that I haven't given a fair chance to in the past... make tea in a TEAPOT! I've heard it many times before, you know, how tea from a teapot tastes so much better, and how you should put the milk in first, and how you should heat it on the ring of the cooker, blah blah, but last night I tried it, and I could taste the difference! I'm not sure if I like it better or not, but I feel that those people who tell me that they can tell the difference aren't actually making it up. I feel this area needs further experimentation before I can come to a conclusion, but I will update you as I go along.

Another strange thing happened this week - I had to deal with a visitor who lost their passport and couldn't fly home. It wasn't really something I was expecting to happen, but none the less, it has taught me lots of new things about disasters in Glasgow. I now have a wealth of experience in phoning taxi companies, police stations, airports, airlines, passports offices and British Embassies. Unfortunately, none of these things really worked, and I had to point them in the direction of the Stranraer boat, but at least it was alright! So, if you're ever stuck in Glasgow and they won't let you on the plane, just get a bus from Glasgow to Belfast - it's only £18, and they don't really seem to care if you can prove who you are. Something to remember!

Oh, I just realised that among this silly news, I haven't told you about something rather big. I booked flights to Peru for Summer 2007. I'm going for the month of June to Lima, where I have a friend Naomi who's working for SIM. I plan to visit her but also get stuck into helping out in whatever way is necessary. I didn't do a "summer team" this year, so I reckoned I might as well do something useful with my summer as well as enjoy South America. As with the tea news, I'll keep you posted on this too.

Must dash, but will be postin' again soon!

Tesco Queen

2006-10-28T21:44:00.000Z

So... after finding Hannah and Jane we headed down to Fopp to hear Duke Special playing an in-store set. He was in Glasgow supporting the Divine Comedy that night, and since he's so nice, he entertained the faithful fans in Fopp a few hours before the gig.

It was really great - a cosy atmosphere, admiring fans, and a wonderful Northern Irish accent. Near the end of his set, I felt that the evening would be more complete if he played one of his songs from days gone by, so in the split second of silence, I proclaimed the words "Tesco Queen" (a song from the days of Booley) After a slight pause, he spoke up, saying that he hadn't played that one in a very long time, but would give it a go.

It was wonderful! I feel that I won a victory for the people. After the gig was over we were chatting to him, and he said that he really enjoying playing Tesco Queen 'cause he hadn't played it in so long. All in all, a beautiful afternoon.

Speak soon

The Hills and The Valleys

2006-10-19T12:28:00.000Z

So I was down in Bristol at the weekend with Maeve, and I was very busy! It was all good fun though. Let me summarise my activites with attractive bullet points:

Going out for dinner courtesy of Richard McP - (thanks)
Bit of dancing @ The Lizard Lounge
Playing netball (or trying to)
Working at the Crisis Centre with homeless guys
Visiting Maeve's church (City Church)
Hiking in The Brecon Beacons - Whoo WALES
Having a very squashed living room ceilidh
Acting like a tourist and visiting the sights
Some hanging out in general...

Here are a few pictures stolen from Facebook:

And sure - have a verse to finish:

"Do not be anxious anbout anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" - Philippians 4:6+7

Two Small Matters

2006-10-11T18:48:00.000Z

Hello! I have 2 interesting things to tell you, but I won't take long....

1. When you type my name into Google my Bebo page comes first! How exciting: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=louise+glenn&meta=

2. I've got my final year project kinda sorted. I'm going to digitally analyse images from an MRI Scanner to identify brain tumours. It makes me sound really intelligent, and I like it. Hopefully the fact that it's interesting will keep me motivated to do something about it.

Strings Attached

2006-10-04T20:01:00.000Z

Do you need a Ceilidh band?
Why not book STRINGS ATTACHED!

We'll play at just about any special event - Providing some tremendous toe tapping music as well as instructions to the dances. We'll do all the old favourites (Gay Gordons, Canadian Barn Dance, Dashing White Sergeant, Strip The Willow) and many more... and we might even throw some Irish ones in too if you're lucky.

For bookings please e-mail: strings_attached@hotmail.co.uk
or visit our temporary website at: http://www.strathclydecu.co.uk/strings.htm
(We'll get a decent one when I have time to make it... )

Thanks

Pumping It To The Max!

2006-09-30T11:24:00.000Z

Hello, I haven't really blogged all summer, but now that I'm back at uni, I will try and update you more as exciting things happen. It was a year since I started my blog to inform you of uni madness, so I guess we should celebrate....

This is what the CU PA system looks like setup in my cupboard with my iPod. It was wonderful! So wonderful that it made me bounce a little. Our storage room is getting a new carpet, so we needed somewhere to store it. I offered my cupboard, and tada! It was good for Alison's 21st and a Quarter Birthday Party last night too! The best part of it all is that it's still a fully functional wardrobe. You could live in that cupboard.

Speak soon, and be good!

Fetter You Say?

2006-08-15T15:56:00.000Z

"I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul." - Jeremiah 32:39-41

It's been a while now since New Horizon (big Christian conference) but I was recently reminded of the passage that John Piper spoke about on his last night. It's a lesser known passage from Jeremiah, but one of great encouragement. I think it's definitely worth sharing what he said about it. The passage talks about what God's going to do. Not what we're to do. God alone is the one working here, and it's His grace that sustains, and keeps us saved. If it was up to us alone, we would probably wake up one day, and not believe in God. But God has promised to inspire us to fear Him, so that we never turn away, and He's doing these things will all His heart and soul, and that's an awful lot of heart and soul!

He also spoke of the verse in the great hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" that explains how we're prone to leave the God we love, but our prayer is that we're bound to Him, and chained to Him, and His love. It's great! The lyrics of the 3rd verse are below, but if you want to hear the full song, I'd recommend you download the version that Duke Special sang on BBC 1's Across The Line programme at Christmas. Go the Duke with the holy music on trendy TV, hehe. The link is: http://www.dukespecial.com/audio-live.htm#atlchristmas2005

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Later dudes!

Bit of a Lull

2006-08-12T17:38:00.000Z

Hello! I'm basically just writing to let you all know that I'm still alive, and that I haven't fallen off the face of the virtual planet. It's hard to believe that the summer's nearly over. It has gone so quickly this year. I haven't blogged in donkeys, despite often saying "I should really blog about this" - it's pretty sad really, but I should probably update you on this summer's happenings.

At the start I entertained many Glasgow folk and went to the Giant's Causeway about 3 times in one week. We also introduced Zoey to Carrick-A-Rede ropebridge for the first time. All in all, I think Alison, Neil, Olu, Megan, Alix, Marcella, Samaria and Rossalyn all had a good time.

Working has played a bit part in this summer. I was working 9 to 5 every day except 2 weeks in the middle. I now feel a lot more equipped to deal with the public (even the not so happy ones) and I will miss the office a bit. Moments include a time when Ruth and I were on reception, and neither of us asked the client's name, so instead looked at each other with a very comical and quizical look, the time when I was summoned immediately from my tea break to be told that the computer had blown up and I was supposedly meant to fix it, and watching the "office lads" all going out together to play football... hilarious.

Other summer events have included dressing up as a tomato for a kids' club in Sligo, visiting Alison (flattie) in the middle of nowhere, having to sit outside on the grass outside the overflow tent for New Horizon, and having a wonderful weekend with my parents in Glasgow.

I'm aware that this blog is getting rather long now, with no pictures, so I'll stop, but hope to get some photos on soon, to make it all come alive, hehe, and maybe, if you're lucky, I'll blog when I'm Inter-railing. You'll just have to wait and see....

http://www.strathclydecu.co.uk - new freshers' site for your viewing pleasure.

Till the next time!

Child of the '90s

2006-06-27T18:13:00.000Z

These certainly apply to us old North Coast dudes, but do they apply to you? You can tell you're a child of the 90's if:

You can sing the rap to "The Fresh Prince of Bell Air"
You've worn leggins and felt cool
You remember when it was worth getting up on a Saturday for SM:TV
You had a huge fringe at some point in your childhood
You remember watching and reading "Goosebumps"
You took plastic carton lunch boxes to school
You remember the crazy of Tamagotchies and yo-yos
You still get the urge to say "Not" after every sentence
Not
You knew that Kimberly (the pink ranger) and Tommy (the green one) were meant to be
You played and/or collected Pogs.
You watched the original Postman Pat, Fireman Sam and Ninja Turtles
Your got your mum to buy BN biscuits
You used to wear those stick on earrings, not only on your ears, but the corners of your eyes
You know the Macerna by heart.
"Talk to the Hand"
You thought Brain from "Pinkey and The Brain" would finally take over the world
You remember bum bags
You always wanted to be on Fun House
1 word - Boyzone
Every time you ate a Snickers, your parents said "I remember the days thouse used to be called a Marathon Bar"

The CU Ball

2006-06-03T14:18:00.000Z

As promised, here's weekend update with photos from the Ball. You can find more on my Bebo web-page at del1r1ou5.bebo.com or else you might be able to get straight into the album with this link: http://www.bebo.com/PhotoAlbumBig.jsp?PhotoNbr=1&PhotoAlbumId=996409730 Not sure if it'll work, but you can give it a go. Incase you can't, here are a few for ya!

Back In Black!

2006-06-01T12:00:00.000Z

Hello everyone! It's been a while, but I have returned. I'm just out of the busy exam season, and very glad that summer has officially arrived. I'm in Glasgow at the minute, but had a very busy weekend of jetsetting across the Irish Sea as usual. Last Friday it was a joy to celebrate Lisa's 21st with a bit of a boogie over in Anniesland. It's amazing how putting 'smart' on the invitation makes people scrub up, and we had great fun analysing which level of businessman the boys were. Have a picture of two to aid the imagination:

Also, it appears to be a season of gigs. On Saturday I went up to see Duke Special in the Empire, supported by a random DJ set that I'm not too sad about being over, and a quirky Dublin band who were remarkably better. It was then off to Edinburgh with my favourite airline company to see Mr A-Z, Jason Mraz. He was wonderful! So very talented and we couldn't help but bob our little heads. By Bon Jovi tickets arrived in the post after much waiting, so I'll be over to see them and Nickleback on Satuday, and then the next Saturday it's back to the 'Burgh for Frenzy! How I love good music. Anyway, don't want to overdose you here, so I'll report back at the weekend and hopefully have some pictures from the Ball, where people will be even more smart!

Toodles!

Weekend In Cultra

2006-05-08T13:01:00.000Z

Hello there! It's been ages since I wrote a real post, but thats cause I'm at home studying (what a loser, hehe) I am surprised how successfully the "being at home to work thing is going", but this weekend I took time out to go and be a leader at a youth weekend up in Cultra.

It was a great weekend and I'm really glad I went! Lots of good fun - on the Friday night we played 'Hunt The Leader' and I hid up a tree, and only 2 groups found me. We also had a major water fight on the Saturday evening and played 'Capture The Flag' on Sunday afternoon. The games were interspersed with talks explaining Christianity, based on the Chronicles of Narnia film. They went really well, and the PCI Year Team who were delivering the talks did a really great job at making them interesting, very honest and hard hitting, and relevant to the age groups of guys that were there.

Here are a few things things that I learn during the weekend:

It's really scary being at the top of a tree when it's windy!
It's awesome to hear how God works in people's lives
I'm very talented at doing the limbo
It's sunny in Northern Ireland sometimes
It's amazing how a trip to casualty brings people together
Praying for sick people works

See you all very soon, and don't work so hard that you forget to go mad every now and again.

Grace Like Rain

2006-05-04T11:17:00.000Z

Dm Bb F C
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
Dm Bb F C
That saved a wretch like me
Dm Bb F C
I once was lost but now I'm found
Dm Bb F C
Was blind but now I see so clearly

Dm Bb F C
Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Dm Bb F C
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away
Dm Bb F C
Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Dm Bb F C Dm
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

When we've been there, 10 thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days, to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun

Easter Sunday 2005

2006-04-17T17:30:00.000Z

Slight blast from this time last year ...

Posing with my egg

Journeying (Lent Blog)

2006-04-03T10:01:00.000Z

Today is my turn on The Lent Blog - a collaborative blog by Christians in Glasgow (and some others too). Follow the link to read the rest of the blog, or read my post below

Journey:
1. The act of travelling from one place to another; a trip.
2. A process or course likened to travelling; a passage: the journey of life.

It’s coming round to that time of year again when I’ll be flying back and forward from Northern Ireland to Glasgow. I’ve just arrived home for the Easter holidays, and when exam season begins I’ll be back again for study leave, then not long after that ’til summer. Once again I will start to feel slightly at home at the airport, and catching a plane will become as natural as catching a bus.

Travelling reminds me a lot of the journey of life (so I can identify very well with both the definitions at the top of the page) and so often people are guilty of trying to rush around in life from one thing to the next, without enjoying the magical moments in between.

John Ortbert writes: “Most of my life is spent in transit: trying to get somewhere, waiting to begin, driving some place, standing in line, waiting for a meeting to end, trying to get a task completed, worrying that something bad might happen, or being angry that something did happen. These are all moments when I am not likely to be fully present, nor to be aware of the voice or purpose of God. I am impatient. I am almost literally killing time. And this is just another way of saying I am killing myself”

Why don’t we all take some time this Easter to just stop and take in life, in all it’s fullness, and enjoy every moment that God has given to us. Yes we have work to do, yes we have people to see, but let’s try and make each of these moments special individually, rather than just wishing them away in order to move on to the next thing. Don’t forget “The journey is the destination….”

Have a really great Easter!

March In Pictures

2006-03-31T09:52:00.000Z

Mum's Snowy Glasgow Trip

CU Committee Dinner - a great night with lots of laughing
www.strathclydecu.co.uk

Emma The Hen - getting married today!

Me and Alison at the Hen night (hence the ears)

Random Dinner Party Last Week

Let It Snow!

2006-03-20T12:08:00.000Z

The last time I wrote to you, I explained about the snow up north, but little did I know that we would have just as much snow the next weekend in Glasgow. Mum was over for the weekend and on Sunday she came it to tell me that it was snowing. I thought nothing of it really, 'cause we get snow from time to time, but when I opened the window I was amazingly shocked at the amount of snow. There was so much snow, that all the churches in Glasgow were cancelled! I've never heard of church being cancelled before, but I suppose it makes sense. It was a great weekend! Another good thing to report is that I spent the party money this week, and we were able to buy

A donkey!
A goat
A calf
Clean water for 25 people

All good I say! This week has been pretty busy with work, but it's OK cause I'm getting a holiday very soon. I'll be home in 10 days. Anyway, I better stop writing now, cause I don't have a picture today (I'm in uni) but will hopefully blog again soon, because I've lots more to tell you, and when I'm at home I'll add some pictures to brighten up your reading and keep your attention. Toodles!

20!

2006-03-09T20:45:00.000Z

Well hello there. This is the first post I will write as a non-teenager. I've now reached the grand old age of 20 and feel that I have to be somewhat sensible... hmmm, not so sure. Just tidyed the flat there in preparation for the party tomorrow, and about to do some serious snacking.

The CU Leaders were up in Abernethy near Aviemore this weekend meeting and learning with all the CU leaders in Scotland and it was great. We had some really good teaching from 1 Peter and a lot of fun. On the Saturday afternoon we build a snowman and called him Stuart (cause everyone's called Stuart these days!) So I've included a nice little picture to the right there.

Not feeling particularly profound tonight, so I guess we'll keep this to a minimum, but giving up tea for lent is still going well. Haven't had any in over a week now, and it hasn't affected me at all, hasn't affected, all at, hasn't me, hasn't affected, no no, not me, me at aallllll.....

Lent

2006-03-01T11:48:00.000Z

Hello! Well it's the first of March and the countdown to easter has begun. We had a pancake party at Jackie's last night, and today is my first day without a cup of tea. I've decided to give up tea for lent. Not for any real reason, just because I think a challenge every now and again is good for a person. Is anyone else giving up anything? Today is Killer Wednesday, and the only reason I have this small smidgeon of time is because my last lecture finished 10 minutes early. Nicole and Kaely were over this weekend and it was great fun. I think I tired them out quite a bit on Friday and Saturday with all the walking and doing things, but they were allowed to have a nice day in on Monday and they cooked us some awesome dinner. Not much of a lull though because Alison's mum is over tonight. The flat will get a little break soon though, because we're going away this weekend to a leaders training weekend up north. Rumour has it that it's -11 degrees - I'm sure it will be cool... Speak soon.

Watch Out!

2006-02-23T14:52:00.000Z

Watch out, there are tall Germans about. Andre and Andreas are in my class, and we're pictured here at the CU ceilidh. I am short.

What else can I share? Perhaps a very large number will brighten up your day?

1 googol =
10 to the power of 100
(try writing that one down)

Advanced Notice

2006-02-20T13:28:00.000Z

Will probably leave this at the top of the page until nearer the time, but you all know that I like to be super organised, so here's some advanced notice about my birthday party. Get it into your diaries now (and sorry if you're on the wrong side of the pond, but at least you're informed)

Frenzy

2006-02-18T11:36:00.000Z

Hey guys! Think I'm gonna go to Frenzy this year, 'cause it's already looking like a pretty nice lineup! If anyone wants to come over for it let me know, and I should be able to put you up.

Saturday again, after another week on madness. We had a ceilidh on Thursday and it went really well, with lots of International Students. I think next time we need to go out and recuit some more Scottish (or informed) students who know the dances really well. Lynsey's over at the minute which is nice and rumour has it that Andrew Cummings and Jenny Orr are also in Scotland's coolest city as I speak. I think we're gonna hit the ABC tonight, so that should be good fun. Just a quick post today as I'm in a bit of a hurry, but speak soon.

A Little Late

2006-02-16T09:05:00.000Z

I know it's a little late, but here you all go! Jamie in particular might enjoy this one.

Homeless Ministry

2006-02-12T20:47:00.000Z

Hey! Just a quick update on what's been happening. On Saturday I went out to do the homeless ministry outreach with church, and although it was a pretty wet day it was awesome. We met in Langs hotel and prayed together before heading out on the street. I made some soup and sandwiches and other guys had sweets and chocolate and crisps, as well as some New Testaments and tracts. We got chatting to a couple of different guys and gave them the food that we had with us. They were amazingly appreciative and and are really grateful that guys from the church are out every Saturday practically meeting their needs and giving them a bit of time. The fact that people even take time to stop and chat makes such a difference. After chatting to a guy David for a while, we felt led to go to Wesley Owen and buy him a small booklet that would help him to understand a little more about who God is and how to read the Bible, so we took it to him and he was really glad and explained to us that he really wanted to read the Bible and understand it, but there were things that were holding him back. It was really cool to chat to him and also to be able to offer him physical and spiritual help. We also saw a guy Dominic who's been on drugs for most of his life, but was moved to tears by the kindness of Christians. It was a great day! And I'm really looking forward to going out again next Satuday. Yeah, it's wet and nasty, but at least I have a flat to go back home to, and Saturday really showed me how much difference we can make and that every little helps. Please remember them and the homeless ministry in your prayers, and I'll keep you updated. Thanks, and speak to you soon!

Totally Mental!

2006-02-10T10:19:00.000Z

I have had one of the busiest weeks ever this week. Only had a few spare hours of freedom, and I spend it happily wrapped up in my duvet on the inflatable sofa watching Desperate Housewives. Today was the week that CU stuff all changed over, and I didn't realise that there would be so much stuff that needed done. Spent the start of the week meeting up with lots of people and talking a lot, and then last night the committee changed over. Organising a time for a weekly committee meeting will of course be a disaster, but that's all part of the fun I suppose.

Looking forward to a weekend of doing very little and watching some rugby! Come on Ireland (and Scotland too, I suppose!) Always look forward to the Six Nations. It's a great event! When else would I yell at the TV with such enthusiasm?

For some reason this week I had a lot of class as well. Maybe it was just that finally the tutorials have started and the labs are underway and the days are quite full, or maybe it's because I know it's only week 3 and already I've been handed out assignments - I don't know. Despite all the working, this week has been really fun. Totally mental, but I've enjoyed it very much.

Last night after CU we had the small blip of not having food arranged, so we had a whole pile of the guys round to ours for a takeout after, and a good bit of banter. It's really great having people over to the flat, cause we've lots of space, so if you're about in Glasgow (or if you live here already) just pile on over, cause you're more than welcome.

Anyway, must dash, places to be, people to see... but this afternoon I think I'm going for an all you can eat Chinese, so I'm looking forward to that. Oh, and the chopsticks were brought out last night. I'm thinking that it's unfair for them to sit unused, so what do you say to a Chinese takeaway every now and again to practise a bit more?

Keep ya posted! All The Best!

I Have Returned!

2006-02-01T19:30:00.000Z

Hey, it's been a while since I last updated, because I was having a little lull for a month. It doesn't mean that nothing happened, but just that I hadn't quite got round to telling you about it. Just there about 30 seconds ago I answered the phone to a random drunk wrong number person, was a little odd, but I survived and so did he. So what on earth can I update you on? I suppose I'll let you know about a few things that happened in January....

Exams - not very exciting, but something I feel obliged to tell you about. I had 3 exams in this sitting, and some other coursework modules. In total I've been waiting on 5 results, and so far I've had 3, and I've passed them all. Now that the necessary exam part is over, I can move on to (slighty) more exciting things.

CU Committee Change - Within the next week the CU committee will change and I will hang up my worship leading/organising boots, and take on the role of Vice President. I'm very excited about this, and I plan to develop the role to include lots of visits to Starbucks, and asking difficult questions. I hope that this year's committee will have as much fun as last year, but it's going to be hard to top smashing easter eggs with golf clubs and getting treated like royality and the Smith Household in Newmilns! I have faith though that it will be smashing (see the pun) in completely different ways.

Having A Visitor - Last week Ruth came over from the Tuesday until the Friday and much fun and banter took place. Stayed over at Jenny's a couple of nights, and somehow managed to juggle the staying up very very late and still make it to lectures for the whole week. My 1st week of term had already starting so I was popping off here and there to go to class, while Jenny and Ruth lay in and generally lounged about. It was great to have Ruth up and the adventure didn't end when Friday came cause....

We All Went To Bristol - down to visit Maeve and catch up again (even though we haven't been gone that long) A lot of the time was spent in the kitchen - on the Friday night we tried to make a banana chocolate cake, and discovered that 100g of cocoa powder isn't exactly equal to 100g of chocolate, and on the Sunday we also discovered that making a roast dinner is quite the skill. It was so good though! Saturday saw us venture over to Bath, where we took a trip round the cathedral and had dinner in a noodle bar.

All in all it wasn't a bad month. In the flat we also tried out hand at some more interior design when we painted some more (slightly holier) banners for our flat. I've included a picture at the top for you.

We were also very inspired when we watched Cool Runnings and decided to have our own bob sleigh trails, using the bath. Turns out you can't quite fit 4 in our bath 'cause of a weird slopy bit, but watch out, if the 4 of us are about together we might decide to test yours!

Hope you feel a little more informed about January, and now that I've got the internet at home February should be a lot more blog filled.

Speak soon!

Happy New Year

2005-12-31T12:33:00.000Z

It's been a while - too busy enjoying being at home - but I thought it was about time to update you with something interesting, so I'm going to leave you with The Album Of The Year. It might not be the conventional sort of year compliation, but it's good none the less!

January Friend - Goo Goo Dolls
February Stars - Foo Fighters
Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band
April Showers - Caedmon's Call
Come What May - Moulin Rouge OST
Juneau - Funeral For A Friend
July - Dashboard Confessional
August 30th - Delirious
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day
October Swimmer - JJ72
November Rain - Guns and Roses
December in Monaco - The Citadels
Happy New Year - The Smiles

Have a good one!

Louise <><

Home Sweet Home

2005-12-16T17:16:00.000Z

Here I am at home, with Zoey, so she's going to have a bit of an influence on this one...

Well, it's wonderful to be home again, and yes, it is as I expected it to be. The tree is up, people are starting to come back from uni again, and my free time is quickly being filled with some random madness. One small change to the usual holiday experience is that I'm being driven around by Zo instead of driving her around. It's quite interesting, but I'll update you later if any exciting driving stories emerge.

The last week of uni was quite busy, with lots of things needing to be handed in, but it's all out of the way now, and I'm going to enjoy my holidays before I start to think about exams. I only have 3 in January 'cause I found out yesterday that I got exemption from the Computer Systems one, so that's extra cool, because I hadn't booked my flights back on time for it. I like to call it optimistic thinking!

We're heading over to Exodus tonight to hear Chris, and going to Dalriada's play tomorrow night. I'm quite looking forward to the general Christmas cheer and major hanging out-age. I wrapped my presents yesterday, so that made me feel more in the mood. I also wore a Santa hat through the airport on Wednesday and got random glances from a woman beside me who was trying to be discreet, but not succeeding.

One little thing before I finish... I was just thinking - if you book a seat on a plane for a cello, do you have to give it a surname. Like would my cello be booked under Cello Glenn? And would it need a passport?

Happy musings...

... turns out that Zoey wasn't really an influence, except telling me to change my 'causes' to 'becauses'. Isn't it wonderful when you have a talking, DRIVING, grammar checker?

Holy Hands

2005-12-06T11:56:00.000Z

So we raise up holy hands
To praise the holy one
Who was and is and is to come

I used to have a wee bit of an issue with the chorus of this song. Sometimes it's hard to think of yourself as having holy hands. A lot of worship for me involves focussing on God's holiness and standing in awe of His greatness compared to our relative insignificance and shortcomings, but then again the Bible tells us that we have been made right and that we are part of a royal priesthood and a holy nation, and that surely is truth. It wasn't so much the theology of the song that caused me to wonder, but rather the response of the people. Why do people often raise their hands immediately when the chorus of this song is sung. Is it just cause the songs tells them to? I don't mean it in any sort of judgemental way, I was generally curious about why people did this. In church on Sunday we sang the song, and with some thought, but mostly out of thankful response I raised my hands, and for me, it was all about proclaiming the truth and boldly saying 'Yes! I believe that my God has the power to make what is not clean, clean and holy' ... and we raised the roof.

1 Timothy 2:8
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer...

Oh Christmas Tree

2005-12-02T12:17:00.000Z

Illuminated

2005-11-30T10:15:00.000Z

Howdy! After mentioning Harry Potter in my last blog, I found myself in the cinema that night all ready to see it. It was the second night at the cinema in a row and I really did feel like quite the dosser, but it was OK, because it was now the weekend. So, what did I think? Well... I thought the physical filming itself was really good - Lots of nice computer generation and good cinematography - but I wasn't overly impressed with 'The Goblet Of Fire' in general. I hadn't read the book, so maybe that was a factor, but I just kinda wondered what all that was about. It was a lot darker than the other books/films and that made me feel a little cautious. It's not often I get that sort of feeling with a film, so when it happens I tend to notice it more and it's a bigger deal.

On Sunday I was at the finale of The Festival Of Light that was being held in Glasgow. The finale was in Rottenrow Gardens which part of my uni, and it involved a man with a giant blow torch heating up huge metal tubes to produce a note. It was very 'interesting' and 'different'. There were also bagpippers to remove any doubt that we're in Scotland, and lot of fireworks being set off from the top of the McCance building. The Festival of Light ran over the whole weekend, and lots of building round the city were light up, like the Gallery of Modern Art (shown here). There were also random neon signs on building around the city, and lots of people walking around in tour groups sporting a glow in the dark badge or a glowstick. George Square is also majorly lit up these days, but not because of the Festival of Light, but because Christmas is coming!

On the slightly Christmas-sy note, we had a flat meeting last night. It sounds very formal, but I was really all 3 of us sitting on my bed, eating fair trade chocolate and talking about stuff that needed to be done. It was very comical, but I don't think you'd ever understand if I tried to explain why. Our agenda included issues like:

Tidying the flat
A large Tesco Online Shop
Buying a cordless phone
The Buying of a Christmas Tree
The Decorating of a Christmas Tree
Advent Calendars
Our Dinner Party Next Thursday

I'm sure you can see a general theme running there. The Chaplaincy at uni are putting up and decorating their tree today. I think it's more important for us students to get the tree up early because we only have a few weeks to marvel and its beauty before we go home to look at the trees in our own homes. So today I've been given the very happy task of buying a tree, and this evening we are going to decorate it. It's very exciting. It doesn't totally feel like Christmas yet (mainly cause it's not) but when the tree goes up who knows what sort of new emotions and excitments will be stirred.

Anyway, must head on here. That was a long one this morning. See you very soon. I hope you're counting down the days! 2 weeks today I'll be home.

Flying By

2005-11-25T13:02:00.000Z

Hey everyone. I can't believe that it's nearly the end of November and I haven't updated you in more than a week. I have no idea where the time is going. Well, it's Friday and I'm in the library, about to go to a Signals and Systems tutorial. I think part of the reason that this week has gone so fast is because we haven't had any Signals classes. On Monday our lecture was interrupted by a fire alarm and on Tuesday my lecturer was away at the University Court (whatever that is). I think that coming back to Glasgow on the Monday morning also sped things up a little.

The big outing of this week was the adventure that my school blazer took from my cupboard out into the real world. I've been wanting to wear it for ages, and felt a bit rare, but yesterday I overcame the reluctance and ventured out. The response was positive, my body was warm and interestingly clothed and the blazer was happy with the compliments it received! Quite successful for a first trip out, and I'm sure there will be many more from now on.

Last weekend was excellent. It was the ALF weekend incase you didn't know. I flew back on the Friday afternoon and Zoey picked me up from the airport. It was a very pleasant and uneventful journey, and Zo is a great driver. I was able to see my parents for a while, so that was nice, and then I went up to Ballymena (hey!) for the weekend. The theme was friendship. The best part of the weekend was just hanging out and not doing any work. It was also cool to see Zara again, and to stay with Ruthie on the Sunday night. On the Saturday evening, Gordy did a talk about friendship and forgiveness, and I though that it was really great. Really real, and I'm sure it spoke into a lot of people's lives. Some of the odder moments of the weekend included getting stuck in with making the lunch/dinner, controlling hyper people and being asked what we should do. It was a little bit different being old and coming back, than just being old. Wonderful though!

On Wednesday night we had girls' night at Ruth Hutch's house, and last night at CU we had a wee evening about Friendship Evangelism. I also went to see The Constant Gardener at the cinema last night, and I would recommend it. Not a light hearted sort of film, but a good one, that really does raise some ethical issues. I still haven't seen Harry Potter, so I reckon I might go and see it sometime soon.

Anyway, must dash here. Speak Soon!

Good Afternoon Blog-Fans

2005-11-15T12:14:00.000Z

Hello again, and welcome to another installment of Louise's ever growing blog! I have a few issues I wish to discuss today, as well as updating you on the usual day to day happenings. I think I'll update you first, before I go all bloggerish and try to be overly dramatic and profound. The weeks are flying in, and this weekend was slighty 'queiter' with 2 flatwarming parties. I haven't really had a weekend in Glasgow in ages, so it was nice. Over with the 44 crew on Princes Street on Friday, and on Kersland Street on Saturday with the Jordanhill girlies. It was nice to hang out and chat to people I haven't seen in a while and also experience BeerPong - ask me if you're interested, way to hard to explain on here! This week has the potential to be really busy or really relaxed, and I'm not sure which one it is yet. I managed to read half a book in my really dull Measurement class this morning, so I can't really say that was taxing. I'm really excited about this weekend, cause I'm going 'home' to the ALF weekend. Will be awesome to hang out and take it easy and see so many wonderful people again. Bring it on! Anyway, that's about all the actual news, make of the next headings what you want. Toodles!

Issue Number 1 - Scottish Poppies

Right, what is the deal with Scottish poppies? At home in Ireland (and also England) poppies have green plastic stalks with a little leaf or two and a well attached, nicely textured red flower at the top. However in Scotland this is not the case. I though I would be a good model citizen and support the poppy appeal, and how to a get rewarded? With a 3 inch gash (OK, I'm being over dramatic) let's say slice to be right forearm. You see Scottish poppies consist of a huge big pin that you're meant to just push though your clothes, leaving the lethal point protruding from you lapel. It's all good in theory until you take your coat of and nearly cut the arm off yourself. Not a fan of the Scottish poppy, bring back the idiot proof plastic green ones for the not so clever Irishers!

Issue Number 2 - Sofa Adverts

OK, I feel I took too much time over my poppy rant, so I'll keep this one short. Why on earth are there so many sofa adverts on TV these days? At least 4 companies have a 'half price sale', which undoubtedly will continue forever and are displaying their fine range of products during every advert break that I seem to catch hold of. With the Christmas period approaching do people really want to buy new sofas? They're big and expensive, and will put a hole in that Christmas present budget. Maybe they're just hoping that in the season of goodwill they'll not forget the old sofa sellers...

Issue Number 3 - The Windiness Of Duke Street

This may not make sense to the non-Glasgow guys, so will be brief again. This is more of an observation than a question or issue, but I honesty think somedays that Duke Street is the windiest place I have ever been... ever! I'm pretty sure that 10 minutes were added to my journey into class last week as so much time was spend trying to make my body go forwards. On Sunday I met a struggling and almost crying (due to excessive wind) Gary Brough battling his way on through. If our local, one inch off and official giant, can't make it though, what hope is there for the little people? My expert engineering opinion on the matter is that because the big building on the corner is no longer there we have no protection. Imagine the picture below with no big building!

Well done for making it through that! You are a real warrior, hehe. I really must go now, the smell of my Chicken Tikka sandwiches are beginning to fill the whole room. Speak Soon.

Work and CU Weekend

2005-11-09T09:41:00.000Z

Howdy. It's about time for another little update. Haven't filled you in since my account of my trip home. Week 6 in uni i always interesting... it's half way though, and time for lots of midterm exams, hand in dates and reports. I managed to get my DVB project handed in at the start of the week, so at least that's out of the way. Also did a Digital Exam and handed in my Integrating Studies questions, so I hope that's all for a wee while.

Last Tuesday I went to see Starsailor and Lesley came down. She was the first guest to stay in my flat, so that was quite a milestone. We had a good night at the gig, some nice chilling time and an excellent morning in Starbucks before I had to leave her. The rest of last week was uneventful, with life just going on and work happening in the background. I was also feeling rather sleepy, so a lot of my spare time involved doing as little as possible.

This weekend was the CU Weekend away, and we went to Rowerdennon Youth Hostel, right by Loch Lomond. It was a perfectly timed weekend of chilling and getting away from week 6. We had a small incident with the roof which meant we had to re-shuffle out plans, but it didn't seem to put us out too much. The teaching was good, and the pace was relaxed. We had a quick look at the live of David, and had a few discussion groups after each session. Saturday night's plans had to be changed, so we came up with a quiz and it was followed by a big praise jam into the night. Wonderful! Oh, I almost forgot to mention our fireworks! We had some show. Maybe not quite one to rival Glasgow Green's display, but you know, we did well.

Anyway, class is calling, it's Crazy Wednesday, and I have lots of work to do! Speak soon.

Rocking The North Coast

2005-11-01T12:10:00.000Z

Hey! Even though I'm back in Glasgow now, I think I'll let you know what I got up to this weekend. After arriving in about 10 on Friday I was straight out and up to McCarter's house to see some of the guys who were out for dinner with Lesley. Happily they had a good supply of ice cream and Maltesers, and we had a fun night driving around the country side on a special little mission - if you're curious you should ask Nellie and I'm sure all will become clear.

Saturday was nice and relaxed, going to the House to see some of the band guys, meeting up with Ruth for a Starbucks and going out for dinner. The evening was a rockin' old night as the number one groupie for the Random Other did some serious grooving in the university Diamond. Not surprisingly the Random Others won, and I was pleased to join with the 12 year olds with chants of "Gordy, gordy.." as they performed their encore.

Sunday night was very busy, with trip up to Toberdoney Youth Fellowship and on to ALF. The talking in Toberdoney went well, and it was great as always to get back to ALF guys. I'm going on the weekend, so have managed to get roped in to doing stuff, but it'll be great.

I arrived back in Glasgow yesterday morning, but went for a wee nap when I got in, cause I didn't get a lot of sleep over the weekend. Tonight I'm going to see Starsailor, and Lesley's coming down, so it should be good fun. Unfortunately I have a rather important test tomorrow, but you know, you can never let too much work spoil all the fun! Speak soon.

Louise <><

Since it's now November, Alison thinks we're allowed to talk about Christmas now... but I'm not so sure?!?!

Long Awaited

2005-10-26T10:25:00.000Z

Hey. I'm aware that it's been AGES since I last updated you, but looks like now is the chosen time. I'm in a computer systems lab, so I'm right at a computer, and my tutorial's not that hard, so here goes.

Well, when was the last time I said something? I think it was last Monday, such a long time ago! Not an awful lot to report this week because I wasn't off on any random adventures and was quite busy, but there were a few fun things that I should tell you about. On Wednesday night it was Ann-Marie's birthday (flatmate from last year) so a whole pile of us trooped out for dinner to a place called FatCat. It was really rather good! Just off Trongate in the Merchant City area, a place they're apparently trying to make the celebrity place to go. The big advantage for us was that they gave a wonderful 20% student discount, and drinks were half price on Wednesdays. It was a really nice night, and great to hang out with the guys from last year again. I think we're gonna to try and setup a system of going round to each others for dinner some nights, so we'll see how that goes.

Thursday was a pretty winging it night at CU, with the night being planned at the 8am committee meeting, but it went really well. Stuart shared about Tolerance, and about the pending Religious Hated bill that could be passed, and how we need to stand up for truth and the human right to be able to express belief and worship. It was class and made me think alot.

On Friday I went to a flatwarming party with lots of food and banter, and on Saturday night we had a Girls' Night In with some of the girls from CU round. I thought that last weekend I was a bit of a waster with all the film watching, but this weekend proved that I could go one step further. We all plonked ourselves on our tremendous sofa and watched 3 films straight, while eating chocolate and sweets and generally enjoying ourselves!

Weekend Film Count = 5
The Emperor's New Groove
Honey
The Princess Bride
Wimbeldon
How To Lose a Guy in 10 days

And as I mentioned already I'm coming home this weekend. Very excited! Only a couple of days of good hard work to go before I can take it easy.. for a wee while anyway. Speak soon.

Apologies...

2005-10-25T10:23:00.000Z

Hey everyone, sorry for not updating you in ages, cause I've been really busy with work! I'll not be updating you even now, cause I found out yesterday that I've been given a measly 2 weeks to do a 15 page project including research. No idea how I'm meant to do that but I suppose I'll have to give it a go. I'll try and fill you in on the fun stuff once I get a spare moment, but at the mo, the blog has slipped down the prioritiy ladder. A happy note is that I'm coming home this weekend. So I'll see you fine Northern Irelanders there! I'm looking forward to it!

And Relax....

2005-10-17T00:25:00.000Z

It's been a while since I've been on to you, but I've been really busy doing fun and relaxing things! It's wonderful. On Thursday I spent most of the day meeting people for coffee between lectures and enjoying the glorious Glasgow sunshine! (I know it may come as a shock, especially to those who've actually been to Glasgow but it really was sunny, I promise.) Niall McPhillimy and Anna Breakey were over on the Thursday night and we checked out a nice like music venue in the city centre called Bloc. Was a really good night, with a couple of top quality bands, good atmosphere and professional sound levels. It's when you go to a random gig like that that you really realise just how awesome Glasgow - and the music scene here - is. Thursday night was a late one, doing toastie bar to after 3, but it was well worth it. Some good conversations and a couple of people interested in coming along to the Alpha course :-) When I arrived back at my flat at about half 3 I discovered that the chain was on the door and I was going to be locked out. Luckily Alison and Greig has been partying on down at the Garage and were still up to let me in. It is reassuring to know that you can't get into our flat when the chain's on, cause believe me I tried quite hard.

The weekend fun began at 11:30 on Friday morning when I managed to pull myself out of bed. I'm not really a fan of sleeping in, but when you have a late night, and you're just filling up your 8 hour quote I can nearly justify it. It was another glorious day, so I thoroughly enjoyed my walk down to get the Megabus to Edinburgh. After a quiet little journey I met up with Christy and we did some serious hanging out and had a good heart to heart over a large piece of Caramel Apple Pie. That's what weekends with friends are for in my opinion. I stayed over at hers and met up with Lesley the next day for some more hanging out. We resorted to having a McDonald's lunch after not being able to find a Subway, and we were slightly shocked to find a piegon sitting happily on a ledge upstairs. Needless to say we swapped seats so that Lesley couldn't see the 'rat of the sky', but she was still aware it was there a slightly edgy. We left as soon as the people next to us started to throw chips at it to make it move..... hmm.

We found Niall and Crooks a little later (although Suzanne and Anna seemed to have left the planet at this stage) and had a little browse around Fopp before leaving them in the evening to go up to Lesley's house in Auchtermuchty. What can I say? I got well treated there. Fed 2 amazingly wonderful dinners, got a double bed all to myself, took it easy and felt really at home and didn't get bitten by the dog... in fact I think he quited enjoyed our little 'football' match. All in all a splendid weekend! It's quite cool to just be able to go away and not have anything at all to do. Although I'm back to uni again today I feel on top of what's going on (what a miracle!) of I'm excited about the week ahead because it doesn't look like I'll be under too much pressure. Anyway, will keep you posted!

Weekend Film Count = 4
The Usual Suspects
Million Dollar Baby
Finding Neverland
The Princess Diaries

New Week's Resolution - Read more, starting with Catch 22

Pure Total Madness

2005-10-11T14:09:00.000Z

Hey, back again after a cracking weekend in Dundee. It was really nice to hang out with Jenny and I had a very pleasant Sunday afternoon. Met a girl called Catherine, who goes to one of the churches there, and she invited us back to her house for a cup of tea. She was really nice and super welcoming of freshers and visitors like me and Jen.

Yesterday was a tad hectic with uni all day, and then playing at the Alpha launch, but it was an enjoyable sort of madness. The Alpha launch night went well, even though there were some minor technical hitches. There were plenty of people there, and everyone seemed to have a good night. It was cool to play with Chris again, cause we kinda understand each other and gel together even if we've had very little (or no) practice. Went down to see Sixstarhotel as well last night. They were playing in the 13th note (a bar down in the Merchant City) The support NonZero weren't too bad at all, and the SixStar guys performed beautifully as always. They introduced a new song, and I'm a fan already -- good work lads!

Anyway, must head on here. Basically in the computers cause we got kicked out of our labs, but we have to go back in half and hour. Will update you soon. Keep on keeping on!

Dundee

2005-10-08T17:36:00.000Z

Hello there. This may be short, cause I'm sitting in Anne Richmond's living room in Dundee and I don't want to be too anti-social. Good job girls can multi-task! I'm hanging out with Jenny Orr this weekend, so it should be good fun. The UCCF training day went well, lots of good teaching and the usual packed lunch style lunch. I managed to meet Jenny alright this afternoon, even though I haven't got a notion about Dundee. Not sure what the plan is for tonight, but I'm hoping it will involve food - sure it will.

I did a really random thing yesterday afternoon, well, random for an engineer. In my lunch break I took myself down Buchanan Street and into the Starbucks in Borders where I ordered a large chai latte, plonked myself down on a sofa and read my book. It was really nice, I might do it again. I did feel like a bit of a waster of an arts student, but it was cool just to disappear into my book and occassionally glance up at the hustle and bustle of the shop and the street outside. I really like watching all the people in Buchanan Street, all rushing around with their own litte worlds. It's very interesting... maybe I should be a psychologist or a sociologist... nah, not logical enough, too much waffle, hehe. Anyway, better head on. Speak soon.

Labs, Labs and More Labs

2005-10-06T12:07:00.000Z

Hello! I'm managing to survive my week of labs alright, although I have them every afternoon this week. I got integrating studies groups sorted, so after this week, I'm just in Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, leaving Thursday and Friday afternoons free! It's very nice! It makes going somewhere for the weekend a lot easier.

I'm being very efficient today. I'm off for lunch at the mo, and just ticking the boxes on my to-do list. Lots of them include booking Megabuses. Heading to a UCCF training day in Dundee on Saturday, so while I'm up in that part of the world, I'm going to stay with the wonderful Jenny Orr. Next weekend's plans are shaping up quite nicely too. I'm taking advantage of that free Friday afternoon and going up to see Christy in Edinburgh, stay with her and meet some other guys there on the Saturday. It sounds like quite the adventure, heading off into the distance with a back pack and sleeping bag....

Gospel drops tonight, will keep you posted, but in the meantime, I fancy going to getting some grub. Speak soon.

Back Into The Grind

2005-10-03T12:30:00.000Z

Well, it's Monday again, and after a very busy weekend, it's back to daily grind of going to lectures, only this week we're actually starting to learn stuff and it's getting hard.

The flat warming party was quite the success! Everyone seemed to have fun and our flat is still in one piece. We did have quite a lot of people (pushing 60 I say) but they were all nice and civilized and kindly left lots of drinks in our fridge when they went home. It was really cool getting people together and introducing them to each other, but I'll have to sort out that Cale lot in their little huddle in my bedroom, hehe. It was a good night, and I reckon we'll need to be warmed into our flat every year, it's a good excuse to have people round. Here are a couple of pictures to give you a feel for it.

Having the flat is a tremendous blessing, and hope to be able to use it to have people over for dinner, host CU events (like grub crawls) and maybe even have a "you didn't quite make it to our flatwarming party"

Sunday was a great day too, the weekend weather was surprisingly cracking! Ventured to church on the train cause I stayed in my own flat on Saturday night rather than Jamie's, but got there alright. A little walk from Partick and I'm there. I think Sunday afternoons are definitely good days to read the paper and take it easy, after the ritualistic lunch in Curlers. There was an evening service last night, so just stayed in the West End and chilled out. The evening service was fantastic as expected. Jamie spoke about prayer and the worship was inspirational. A tremendous night of refreshing and fuel for the week ahead.

October Swimmer

2005-10-01T13:45:00.000Z

Afternoon! It's quite hard to believe it's October. Where on earth did this year go? I guess Jenny's imposed ambition to "Drive in 2005" is slowly fizzling away. I'm just in the library at the mo checking the old e-mails, and thought I'd update you. Tonight is our flatwarming party, and there may be ALOT of people in our flat. Because we're involved in different things we all know a lot of people (who don't necessarily know each other) and I think there will be a pretty healthy turnout, so this afternoon we'll go the old faithful Lidl and buy lots of cheap stuff in anticipation for a bit of a stampede!

Last night CU had a night of prayer, and it was very good. It started at 10pm and went on to.. uhhh.. not really sure. The main focus was praying for the gospel drops that are happening this Thursday and all forms of evangelism. In case you don't know what a gospel drop is, it's basically going around the student halls of residences with a questionnaire about Christianity and a copy of John's gospel and having a little chat with whoever answers the door. We hope that this approach will spark conversation in a less threatening way, and in the past we've had loads of cool and encouraging stories. We leave the gospels in the flats and trust that God will do His work. I think it's a really important thing to do right at the start of the year, so that everyone knows that the CU is there and who we are, and that the new first years get stuck in evangelism right from the offset. Quality stuff. Will speak to you soon no doubt, keep on rocking!

PS - October Swimmer... what ever happened to JJ72?

Back In Glasgow

2005-09-28T14:37:00.000Z

Hey there! I'm back in Glasgow again, just in the first week of teaching after a really hectic freshers' week. I thought I might get bored, but there was really no chance. CU ran lots of events as well as the usual fairs at the Union. Highlights of last week were playing at an acoustic night with Chris and having the CU grub crawl starter at our flat. I now feel relatively confident at making soup for 40+ people. Work wise, I've had some introductory lectures, but thankfully tutorials or labs haven't started yet. The next few weeks could be extremely tiring with labs until 5 every day, but I'm sure I'll struggle though. We still don't have Internet/phone/good TV picture in our flat, cause NTL is giving us a bit of hassle, but at least I can go online now that I'm back into the swing of things in uni. A cool thing I found out today is that the gardens right beside my uni building has been brought into the wireless Internet range, so maybe sometime I could be updating you from the gardens on a nice sunny day! I also have happy news that my loan came in today, so so far it's been a good day! I'll try and keep you updated as I go along, but feel free to drop me a little e-mail or letter and I promise I'll reply. Hopefully work up to writing something more typicaly profound, but in the meantime, I guess it's just the not-so-interesting update. Speak soon.