Scrapbooking is the best

Since getting back from Cape Town I have put off a lot of things that I don't want to do. This has ranged from university paperwork (now mostly done) to reading difficult books and to writing this blog post.

It now astounds me that I managed to write a blog a week!

5 weeks have now passed since I returned from South Africa and my motivation has been very low throughout this time. I hope that as I rest, and work my way through my to do list I will become more energised...

The best way I can describe life since finishing at Projects Abroad Human Rights Law Firm is dizzy. I got off a roundabout on the 26th May and have been slightly disorientated ever since.
This made my family holiday a bit blurry.
But being reunited with my family and travelling around a country I love was none the less pretty amazing!

Here are some photos of our adventures (in absolutely the wrong order.... enjoy!).

This was taken in Franshoek in the wine region of Cape Town. Dad and I spent a day on a wine tram, we swirled and sipped wine from three different places. Everywhere we went in South Africa we enjoyed the mountains, the sight of them is something I am missing here at home.

More mountains! This was taken at Chapmans Peak on a cloudy day the view wasn't nearly as impressive as I have seen it, but still rather lovely place. Spending a few days in Cape Town with my family, allowed me to show them my favourite places.

Returning to Spionkop was a dream come true. Two years ago you may remember that I went to South Africa to teach for a month and stayed with Lynette and Raymond. During this family trip we fitted in a couple of days at the lodge. It was amazing to come back to such a familiar place and introduce my guys to the place they had seen through face times. Only wish that the Arden guys could all have joined me here for the reunion. 

My guys with the lovely Lynette and Raymond, very jealous of this years group who are flying out tomorrow!

We managed a family photo! Well done us! This was taken on our final day during the morning game drive. We drove round in the very early hours of the morning seeing lionesses with their cubs, elephants and giraffe. In between taking photos I was nervously updating my phone for election results. As far away from the count as I will ever be!

These were taken on Muzinberg beach. We went after spending the morning at Heathfield Baptist Church and showing my guys around Brenda's House.  For lunch we had two of favourite foods - falafel and calamari with chips. We shared both with some exploding ginger beer. 

Almost at the end of our trip we stayed at The Ghost Mountain Inn. Mia and I enjoyed playing card games surrounded by flowers. This was also the place where we went on a boat trip, the highlight was seeing hippos jump up for air and even one go from land to water. 

This was taken at the Waterfront in Cape Town, I introduced my guys to my favourite brunch spot. We spent a lazy morning enjoying the sunshine, great food and catching up.

One of the most beautiful places in Cape Town is the Botanical Gardens in Kirstenbosh. We spent an afternoon here before picking Tom up from the airport. It was lovely to walk around and take in the views.

This was taken at Cape Point, after a long day of driving we got here. We went up to the lighthouse and looked at the two seas swirling in spiral patterns as their waters came together.

We saw several lovely sunsets on our travels, can't remember where this one was taken. Should say that if you see any holiday related photo and it is impressive it was taken by Tom (see below).

Well there we go, a random selection of holiday photos that will give you a sense of what I experienced post volunteering. If you would like to see more photos then please come over and see my scrapbook. I have been able to write this blog post because I finally got round to starting this section in my scrapbook. Whilst it isn't fully up to date it is most of the way there, enough for me to force friends and family to sit and admire the pages one by one.

Prayer Requests:

- At the end of this week I am going to New Wine with Christains in Politics, I am so excited to be part of the team there and chat to people about joining political parties. However from that I am almost immediately going to Soul Survivor as a youth leader! This back to back camping will be amazing and exhausting in equal measure. Please pray for wisdom, energy and fun!

- SLEEP! My sleep pattern has been lost since being back home, I am finding it hard to sleep and often wake up feeling stressed for no particular reason. Please pray for peaceful sleep.

-  Finally as I am sure you well know by now, I hate change. I find transitions, waiting and anticipation very uncomfortable, as the days and weeks go by there is more and more pressure/ need to prepare for uni - whilst a lot of me can't wait to go, there is also part of me that wants to bury my head in the sand till September. Please pray for me to stay grounded in this time.

Thank you SO much for making it to the end of my twentieth blog post (woooo!).
Hope you all have wonderful week.

PS. A couple of weeks ago I spoke at the family service at Olton Baptist Church. I shared what I found hard, why I felt God had called me to Cape Town and the impact people praying for me at home had. Here are some of the slides for those who couldn't quite read them on the day/ are interested.