This Place Though

I cannot fully express how happy I am to be back in the place that I call home! This city has SO much to offer, and I am really trying to make a point of exploiting it fully and getting to know it better before I abandon it again for a few years!

It is full of culture and diversity and vibrance and it literally just makes me so happy.

I'm from the east end of London in a place called Hackney. Until recently it was known for being pretty ratchet. BUT lately it has become a lot more approachable and some of the hidden treasures that it has had for a while, are finally being appreciated! Despite all of that however, Some classic things remain. Like the old cockney market stall owners. And the hilarious bus drivers, lollipop ladies and policemen.

Although I'm brimming with Hackney pride, there are gems ALL over the place, and so here are a few snaps of my adventures thus far.

Hopefully there'll be more to come.

DISCLAIMER: All of my exploring tends to happen on sunny days. For a more accurate representation of London look at something grey and wet.

Oh hey!

Uhhh.. so remember when I had a blog?

It's been over a month and life has literally been so busy that I haven't really had time to gather my thoughts and put them on this lovely little corner of the internet that I happen to own.

But I'm alive! And I'm twenty-two. TWENTY-TWO.

One whole year older and wiser too. (But FO' REALS).

So I apologise for my silence. But I finally have some time to unload my mind, and I really need to. So get ready for a lot of pictures.

Or not, you can do what you want.

The weather turned beautiful towards the end of April, so I took Lloyd and Rosie to parks. A lot. They didn't complain.

I turned 22!! I can't believe how quickly the years are flying by, but I'm so grateful for my life so far and all of the help I've been given up this point! I've been so unbelievably blessed, and I love my Heavenly Father for being so good to me, and teaching me so much.

 William Dean wins the award for the best birthday greeting. Seriously you can't beat those blue blue eyes. This post seriously made my day!!!

I wasn't the only birthday girl!! Eliza turned 19 and we spent our birthday weekend at a church convention in Bristol. We turned down for noone. 

There may or may not have been an impromptu photoshoot while we were there thanks to the wonderful stylings of Martha Ojo!

AND I was reunited with this beauty!! Brittany and I met at EFY in 2010, and haven't really seen each other much since then! lots has changed in both of our lives, but it was so good to see her one more time before she becomes Mrs Brooke! I love the way that certain friendships can be exactly the same even after loads of time spent apart!

I became official and got my shiny new badge for work! I can't explain how happy I am with work at the moment. In an environment like this, the good times are really good, but the bad times are really, really bad. No matter how much you know about the way this life works, death is always a difficult thing, especially when it comes to children. BUT if it comes with the absence of pain, and the introduction of peace into a little one's life, I think it's worth it.

I also got the chance to do an actual placement with the doctors at Great Ormond Street. It was so amazing to work with so many wonderful people, including those that had made a difference in my life personally. Therefore I did the only natural thing and took a selfie in my scrubs to commemorate the occassion. 

It's ice-cream van season!! Maybe I flirted my way into this free cone. Maybe I'm not even remotely sad about it.

I got to babysit my favorite boys. There was some serious thug life going on when they had the hoodies up, and were seemingly locked behind the bars of my council estate. But it's fine. We un-did all the gangsta influences with some Disney Jr.

The beautiful Marita got baptised! I cannot fully express how much i love seeing people come to know, love and understand the gospel, and she is an amazing example of strength and faithfulness! I feel so honored to know her!

 I BAKED SO MUCH. SO. MUCH. There really wasn't even a reason. I just felt inclined to get all the Betty Crocker in me out. But it tasted good. Banana bread... drug cookies.... you name it, it was probably baked this month.

I had my last doctors appointment and found out that my heart is completely normal for the first time in my life! I'm so blessed. So I decided to celebrate with some Miccy D's. 

Recently I was reunited with my beautiful Katia!! We attended secondary school together and it had been a really long time since we had seen each other!

Lastly, I got to spend the weekend with a couple of friends at this amazing place! I love the temple and the wonderful sacred things that go on there. It's such a great way to start off my week.

And that's pretty much it.
If you made it this far, congratulations.
You win the prize.

New.

Ok so you've probably been thinking... "Wow. This website is literally changing every five seconds."
That's because it literally has been.
I am not the most creative soul, and I've been trying to change up the layout/logo of the blog. Luckily, I have the best friends ever and with help from the amazing, CSS code loving, Krysta Morgan, I have finally found a layout that I'm happy with!

Right now.

Stay tuned. It's probably going to look totally different tomorrow.

p.s. Also stay tuned for more amazing things to come from Krysta. I'm serious. This is her thing. She has such a natural knack for computers and design, and her awesomeness is going to hit the World Wide Web sooner than you can say html.

"Run Like You Stole Something"

You know when you and your best friend have everything in common?
Sometimes there are a few differences.
Arinola completed the London Marathon yesterday, and I can safely say that I am not about to do that.

However, I literally could not be prouder of this girl and her achievements!! What an inspiration she is to me that you can do anything. When we met up with her at the end, it was like, "umm did you even run it?" She looked amazing!
And I'm so glad I could go there to see her do so well!!!

The next series of photos is priceless. Obviously I did not run the marathon.

lately

iPhone update on some recent(ish) activities

I can't start without an appreciation for this little chunker. 

Best friends by marriage usually result in things like this. All dancing videos/ complaints about America.

It was half off Shloer in Tesco. Needless to say it got buck in here.

I got the opportunity to watch some General Conference sessions at home. Technology is such a blessing, but having the gospel in my life, and the opportunity to listen to living prophets is even more of a blessing. Happy days.

I got to hang with my favourite boy. Look at those chompers.

You know when you spend FOREVER, trying to decide which nail colour to choose and you wish you could just try them all on? Enter Sally cosmetics and this genius idea. Seriously shaves hours off serious decision making.

Spring has well and truly arrived, and it's park season. I love park season. Especially in a city full of such beautiful royal parks. It's also ice-cream van season. Give me that 99p with a flake and strawberry sauce, right now.

"The Child First and Always"

Okay. So you know when someone says they are living the dream?

I am LITERALLY living my dream at the moment.

image via

Remember how I've been way more productive? Well I've been channeling that productivity into volunteering at the Children's Hospital where I had my heart surgery as a bub.  Honestly, knowing that I want to do paediatrics has only been solidified by my time working here, and if I and my future family end up in London after all is said and done, I would happily spend the rest of my life working here after my kids are all in school etc. 

I volunteer at the Activity Centre which is for children who are patients, and well enough to come down and play, or for siblings of patients who are in the hospital on a long term basis. 

I worried at first, because knowing how attached to people I can get, (especially children) I didn't know how I would handle being around so many poorly ones, but honestly the last few weeks have been nothing but a blessing to me. It's given me the chance to get to know the littles as people, not just patients.They have taught me SO much I can't even express it in words, and being around these kids has been good for my soul. I come home every night with a MASSIVE tired smile on my face because of the adventures I've had.

Whether it's walking around the room with a three year old singing "Let It Go", or being yelled at by a cheeky three year old boy in Arabic, (there are a lot of three year olds), they are children, who despite the trials and suffering they are faced with everyday, want nothing more than someone to play with all day. 

So play with them I shall.

I think the best part of the job is knowing the sheer amount of work that goes into making this scary experience as enjoyable as possible for the kids. No matter what their going through, the entire purpose of the centre and the other amazing people that work with us, is to bring joy and an essence of childhood in a place that serious and quite terrifying.

Here are just a few of the many organizations that come to the hospital to help us out:

Singing Medicine  

Singing Hands 

Chance to Shine 

Check them out and if you can support in anyway, you should, because I've seen first hand the joy that these services provide.

Yes, it's volunteering and yes, it takes a lot of time, but seriously. I would pay them to let me come and spend time with all these cherubs. I'll be doing this until September when I head to Leeds, so I literally am the happiest bunny around.