“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9

March 14, 2017

~ My awesome flatmates ~

13 March 2017 

From front left: Sophie, Jennifer, me, Caroline, Sixian and Pamela. 

I truly dont have words to describe the awesomeness that is my flatmates. They are, beyond a doubt, the most kind and warm people. And so how could I not have learnt from them? Here is a list of things I have learnt so far:

To begin with, I learnt to be patient. haha.

Patient because my natural personality is to be FAST, FAST, FAST, and have a hectic schedule that means I have little leeway for side tracking. I mean, I am still like that, but I have learnt to relax more with these people. Honestly, the best thing that I could learn right now is relaxation!! Being a student and all...

Relaxation with our daily pilates in the kitchen
And in a field. 
I learnt to have friends that love you for you. And this is how friends should be. They are there for you when you need help, and vice versa. For example, I am naturally good (I would say) at giving, but not so much at receiving, and so when I was sick and I was determined to keep going, Pamela brought me down to earth and told me to stay in bed. She even said that she would walk into town and get groceries from the shop for me!! How amazing is that? It makes such a difference when I allow myself to receive sometimes ;) 

Here are some things that I love, and that my flatmates have been been there to help me:
Love for baking <3 Pamela decides here that she loves the camera more than my informative recipe instructions ;)
Tea in the kitchen <3 My flatmates help me finish my large teapot of tea :) 
Love for adventure <3 
I learnt to love in a way I have rarely allowed myself to love before. Love as a colour has such a large array of different shades. I have definitely learnt to be more openly loving. Something that has been hard for me to achieve (and is still).

Loving someone as cute as Sophie is definitely a challenge ;) 
I mean, how can you not?
I have learnt to listen even more.

Never underestimate the power of listening!! When you look at us, we look like we have no problems, but trust me when you take time to listen more you realise that we are no where near perfect. And that makes living our lives just that bit easier ;)

Listening to Sophie's instructions was sound, but actually doing them was much harder ;)
I have learnt to delegate.

I know many people have hinted at me to delegate, but there is nothing quite like learning through practice. Now is there?

For instance, during the surprise birthday bake session for Jennifer, Caroline and Allan (written about in my other blog: The Baking Students), I wrote up a timetable of what baking, and when we would start and finish each component, during the day. I also posted it online so that everyone helping could see it. Now, I thought I had all the baking covered. I started baking, and realised that things take longer than you plan. NOW, if people had not come up to me and asked to help I dont think we would have got everything done. And I thank my flatmates so much for teaching me the art of delegating!!!

Caroline helped so much with the baking <3
Awesome volunteers to help out!!
Team effort in the Pizza Bake Off!! Sophie ran to Tesco to get the ingredients in record time, Caroline made the pizza sauce and ran after us with the much needed basil, while Jennifer and I made the dough. 
I have learnt what a family of students feels like.

Why is Sophie in a field? ;) Because of me!! haha :D
And I sure do love it!! ;)

Now you are uptodate,

Laura

xoxo