A pet hate for each year of my life!

My 21st birthday was a while ago now, but better late than never with the blog post!

Here is the next instalment of the “21” series from First Blue Door On The Left! I’m not just a miserable person, there are plenty of things I like, but these things are definitely my biggest 21 pet peeves!

1. People who hang the toilet roll up backwards. The sheets should roll over the top, not the back. If I come to your house and it’s backwards, expect it to be changed.

2.  Drivers that don’t say thank you when you give way to them. Just rude!

3. People who drive on their mobile phone. It’s a shame if you want to kill yourself, but don’t kill the rest of the road users at the same time. Same for drink driving.

4.   People walking really close behind me. Not exactly a crime, but it makes me feel very uneasy

5. Middle lane hoggers on the motorway. MOVE!!!

6.  People parking in disabled bays that aren’t disabled…. Sort it out!

7. Flies. What are they even for, God could have at least given them bigger eyes so they could see where they were going and not fly into me!

8.  Waiting times. If I have an appointment at 10am, I want to be seen at 10am, not 11:15

9. Buying numerous items in a supermarket, and being asked if you want a bag. No love, wait a minute Ill balance them all on my head.

10.  Cashiers that give you change on top of your receipt. Not helpful

11.  Scraping cutlery on plates when cutting up food. Shiver

12. On public transport, when almost every seat is empty, the smelliest person ever comes and sits right next to you. Choose another seat <3

13. When old people stare at you like you’re going to stab them. Give the younger generation a chance, they’ll give you one too. We ain’t that bad!

14. Similarly, young people who hate on old people. If you stop to listen to them you might just educate yourself a bit

15.  Guys who wear their pants with their bum hanging out, and having to resist the overwhelming temptation to teach them a lesson and pull them down.

16,  Smokers outside the hospital doors. Why do it? The Editors knew what they were talking about! *song reference*

17.  Stubbing your little toe on furniture

18.The rubbish music you get whilst being put on hold mid-phone call! At least give me something good to listen to

19.    People who don’t know the difference between their, there and they’re. Or your and you’re.

20.  Girls (or guys) telling you their obviously fake tan is natural. Unless your parents were wotsits… that is not a natural tan!

21.   People who think footballers deserve the amount they earn. They don’t. Fact.


So, there we go! I could have gone on a little longer, but that'll have to wait until my 30th birthday! Look out for the final installment coming soon from the lovely Sarah!

Katie xxx

21 facts for 21 years

I'm full of useless information so here are 21 facts and things I've learnt from the 21 years I've been alive. Please note that all of these facts were true when I learnt them:

1. The Scoville scale measures the temperature of chilli peppers
   
2. I can eat 7 bourbon biscuits in a minute
   
3. The earliest record of a person swimming is in the Bible (Is 25.11)
   
4. Using a tin opener to break apart frozen chicken is near impossible
   
5. Jona Lewie who wrote 'Stop the cavalry' only had one other major hit – 'You'll always find me in the kitchen at parties' (used on an Ikea advert)
   
6. A full size football goal post is 24x8m
   
7. Trees don't naturally grow in Iceland the have to import them from other Scandinavian countries
   
8. The fastest goal ever scored in lacrosse from a face was 6 seconds
   
9. Oman is the only country that in the English language begins with the letter O
   
10. The members of Destiny's Child were Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams
    
11. St Nicholas lived in Turkey
    
12. Macaroons and macarons are two different types of sweet
    
13. Sean Bean owns a chippy in Broomhill, Sheffield
    
14. Velocity of an electron in a vacuum is 3.66x10^6 m/s
    
15. You can't strangle yourself to death
    
16. You can get shouted at by undercover police if you do press-ups in the middle of the road
    
17. Over consumption of bananas can result in potassium poisoning
    
18. Reese Witherspoon has over 40 different hair styles in Legally Blonde
    
19. Ke$ha 's real name is Kesha
    
20. I'm almost the same height as Julie Andrews, who is practically perfect in every way...
    
21. Yorkshire Day is celebrated on August 1st

So there you go I hope you enjoyed my facts, as you can guess I can be quite useful in a pub quiz! Sarah and Katie are going to finish of the 21 year series with things they love and hate, so watch out for those soon! 

In the words of Greg Lake: I wish you a hopeful Christmas and a brave New Year  

Charlo x

A Key in the Door- Turning 21

I’m now 21 years old! Had a very lovely day. My cute firstbluedoorontheleft housemates made the day very special with a trail of sweeties in the morning, little cute messages stuck on my food cupboard and great birthday presents. The day was topped off with a Superhero themed house party with more friends, which was a great laugh! To mark this momentous achievement of living 21 years, I’ve decided to write a blog post to tell you  guys a little bit about me.

21 things about me

1.       Born in Leeds

2.       Middle child... older brother and younger sister

3.       Christian

4.       I’m a Third year Criminology student

5.       I did ballet, with my best friend Olivia when I was in primary school for only a few months. We were very unlikely people to do it cause we were both massive tomboys

6.       Favourite place is Bolberry Down in South Devon. Been to many happy family holidays down there

7.       When I was younger I wanted to be a nurse like my mummy or work in a library

8.       I never ever want to be a teacher

9.       Phobia of dogs ever since I got attacked by a dog while on my paper round

10.   Horrible speller

11.   When I was younger I wrote my sisters name on the dining room wall and my sister got in trouble. I confessed many years later, and my parents were shocked

12.   Dream to write a novel

13.   Owls has always been my thing. I was ahead of the game with this owl craze.  

14.   I’m rubbish at making cakes. I love eating them.

15.   I think I have seen almost every Stargate SG1 episode

16.   I want fly a helicopter

17.   Addicted to Oreo biscuits

18.   Dangerous footballer. When I do play football (which is rare) I defend by kicking the shins of the opposition players. Face me if you dare.

19.   I only started playing the trumpet because I wanted to play the flute, but there was no more flutes to borrow at school so I chose the trumpet instead

20.   Favourite food is scampi and chips

21.   I don’t want to grow up

 The “ Key in the door- 21!” phase/saying comes from an old tradition that at 21 years old, you were considered old enough to be a keyholder to your family home, and thus hold a symbolically 'senior' position in the family. Although this sort of idea is not really applicable today but a few people still get a symbolic key on their 21^st .  The idea of growing up and “being an adult” and “being responsible” is a scary prospect which I essentially wish to prolong. Maybe sometime I’ll hit that wall of adulthood and embrace it but now.... nah...

 

I feel so old

 

Eve

ME, MY FRIENDS AND GOD v ANXIETY

Hey it's Charlo, hope you're all well. This post will have a more serious tone, it's about my battle with anxiety, and where my faith fits in with it all. There has been a lot on tv and in the media about speaking openly about mental health, I feel that this is the right time for me to tell you guys & girls my story. I'm just a normal sport student: I like going to the gym, sometimes I sleep through my 9am lectures, I play lacrosse for the uni team, I enjoy watching Jezza K and daytime tv etc… but I suffer from general anxiety disorder (GAD). Now I must stress before I start that this comes completely from personal experience, and I can not speak for anyone else who suffers from GAD, or any other kind of mental health problem. 

But first things first. I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that has helped me through the past few years, you know who you are and I love you all so much. I wouldn't have made it this far without you lot.

There's a lot I could say about my symptoms and how GAD effects/has effected my life, but I will try to summarise by saying this: It makes life very hard, a challenge, a struggle, some days it's difficult for me to leave my room, and I feel like I'm trapped in my own head. Like when you can't sleep at night because you can't stop thinking and your brain won't switch off. But instead of planning your friends birthday for example, your head is filled with toxic thoughts that snowball out of control and somewhere deep down I know its irrational. However trying to reason with yourself when you're not 'right' in the head is near impossible. I'm afraid of failure, of not achieving, of something going wrong, of my parents dying, the list goes on. I have massive anxiety and panic attacks (medically they are different). My heart rate goes through the roof and I struggle to breathe properly, I can't think straight and everything seems a little brighter & louder (this is my fight-flight system kicking in).  I also have some OCD-esque symptoms. I always try to sit on the same seat on the bus, I always buy the same pasta, my left shoe goes on before my right, I used to repeatedly count objects, all of my t-shirts are in colour order, all of my dvds and cds are in alphabetical order and I nearly cried when MamaCharlo unwittingly re-arranged my small collection of books. Now some of these will sound quite reasonable to you, and even normal I'm sure. But this is where mental health distinguishes itself from physical illness. In the general day to day of life it is difficult for me to say what is my illness and what is just me, my quirks, the things that make me a human and not just a cookie cuttered robot. Unless I'm having particularly "bad" few days/weeks or in the middle of an anxiety attack and struggling to breathe; I often can't tell you where I end and my illness begins.     

When I was in 6th Form (16/17/18 years old for my non-UK friends) I was on beta-blockers, which slow your heart rate. I was also offered cognitive behavioural therapy which I turned down. My medication was to see me through my A-level exams but due to unforeseen family circumstances I kept taking them. That summer I went to Soul Survivor, a Christian youth festival. I told God that I couldn't do this anymore, I couldn't keep taking my meds (they helped but made me very sleepy and have horribly vivid dreams). I was at the end of my rope and I couldn't cope, I was surviving I wasn't living. I felt like God was telling me to stop taking the tablets and put my trust in Him. So I did. *At this point I must tell you that you should always consult your Doctor if you want to stop / change any medication you may be on* Since that day I've been on the long and slow road to recovery, sometimes I still feel totally overwhelmed by the thoughts in my head. Sometimes I still have anxiety attacks. Sometimes I still play Shake Me Down by Cage The Elephant on repeat for hours at a time. Sometimes I still can't trust what is real. Sometimes I still have to live one day at a time. But I believe that God will see me through, I believe that He sent His only and perfect Son, Jesus, to die and rise again so I can be set free and have hope. I don't know if I'll ever be completely healed of GAD, but I am so much better than I was in 2011. PRAISE THE LORD! I know that God made me a fighter, I don't give up easily. 

Only last week I was starting to have an attack, I couldn't breathe in or out except for the occasional sporadic short breathes in. One of my friends was praying for me and I heard God tell me "breathe my child" and all of a sudden I was able to take a deep breath in and out. I heard it a few more times "breathe my child", and I did. After a couple of minutes my breathing had normalised and I was ok. Now I realise that a girl with mental health problems saying she can hear a voice in her head, will ring alarm bells. But I believe it was God, when I have attacks all my thoughts mash together like white noise. I could hear His words clearly, cutting through everything else, through the sound and the madness.   

If you have any kind of mental health problem or think you might, then I'd encourage you to speak to someone about it and go to the Doctors . I know its difficult and that you can feel very isolated and alone, but there are people out there that can help. The latest stats reckon that about 1 in 4 people have or will have some kind of mental health issue during their life, so don't be afraid to talk to others about it. If you are in the other 75% then even a smile, a cup of tea or asking someone if they're doing ok, can be a huge help.

I hope this has been insightful and if you have any questions or owt, drop us a comment below and I'll do my best to respond. Now, to finish, I've got a Bible verse and some Laura Marling lyrics for you. 

God bless, Charlo x 

2 Timothy 1.7 (NKJV) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  

Pray For Me - Laura Marling : That wasn't me for my trying / That was the devil and his lying / Trying to make me lose my mind / So pray for me 

First Blue Door On Tour Part 3: Bradford

Sadly we have almost come to the end of our tour. We had great times in Bedford and Sheffield in Parts 1 and 2. We start part 3 with our trip up to Bradford to Eve’s. We travelled up continuing to listen to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (I enjoyed listening to it so much while driving I had to borrow it for the journey home). 

Anyway, we arrived at Eve’s and had a tour of the lovely house. Then Eve and her sister Abi cooked us a BBQ, while me and Charlo played a bit of badminton. We then took a trip to the local pub for the evening. On our way back from the pub we decided to go try out the park, we were too old to go in the kiddy area but we did anyways :D As we went round the park we found some monkey bars which we all failed to do!! When we got back we prepared for sleeping in the caravan (Exciting!! Long time since I been in a caravan!!) There was a double bed and a bunk bed, the top bunk was literally a thin piece of board, Charlo tried it out but felt extremely unsafe!! So we settled down to watch Brave before going to sleep, ready for our last day on tour.

Our first trip of the day was into Keighley to take the steam train to Haworth. It was this train line that was used in the film of ‘The Railway Children’. But we had a bit of trouble finding the car park, so I now know the roads in Keighley pretty well as I travelled down some of them twice :) This did cause us to be late for the train we had planned to get so we had a little tour round Keighley while we waited for the next one and stopped for milkshakes. It was then time to make our way to the train station and take the steam train, it was rather exciting!!

Once we got to Hawthorn we walked up hill (of which there are too many up north!!) to go to the Bronte Parsonage Museum. This was in the house where the Bronte family had lived and mad their many creative pieces of work. It was very interesting. We then stopped off at a cute little café for lunch, Scones, Jam and Cream (had been wanting one of these for ages!!). We then ventured back to Keighley station.

From here we decided to travel to Bradford to go to the National Media Museum, where we had some great fun. We tried filming a set, and did a bit of dressing up, and rode in a pumpkin carriage… well sat in one anyway, I personally had a go at reading the news. It was a great place to end our fabulously fun filled tour. After this we went back to Eve’s and started the drive home, back down south dropping Charlo off on the way :)

It was a great couple of days, and will have to do it again!! Maybe you’ll hear about further tours and experiences as we go on in to our last year of uni :)

Good Bye for now

Sarah x     

First Blue Door on Tour: Part 2- Sheffers (Sheffield)

Hi guys!

Our sophisticated air con system began to fail on us on the way north and they were pretty much broken by the time we reached Part 2 of our road trip at Charlo’s home in Sheffield. It was a hot and sweaty journey as we didn’t want to open the windows or we wouldn’t be able to hear the Worst Witch and the Harry Potter tape. We arrived in hilly Sheffield late afternoon/early evening, had pizza for tea, popped over to the local pub and watched Sweet Home Alabama (“Just because I talk slow, doesn’t mean I’m stupid”). Sleeping in the spare home I was confronted with a gigantic moth which I ended up killing with a big dictionary and a Furby, which I had to put outside my room where it continued nattering to itself for a little while.

“Bright and early” the next morning, we set off for our Charlo’s tour of Sheffield! Woop woop!   

1.       Kelham Island Museum.

An extremely interesting steel industrial museum (very Sheffieldy ) to potter around in. There’s a huge engine which makes the loudest noise but sadly it was not on that day due to maintenance.  Sorry guys for changing the days... awks... Loads of stainless steel knives, forks, saws and engines.

2.       Around the city centre

A quick drive and we were in the city! We met up with a friend, who was in town, only for a few moments then we headed to get lunch. We popped by the winter gardens to get some lovely ‘Fancie’ cupcakes and ate our lunch by some fountains with pretty much everyone else in Sheffield. Those cupcakes were big and filling, it was possibly the first time we all struggled to eat a single cupcake! Then Sarah decided to run through the fountains and thus ran into a small child. After lunch, we explored the city centre for a little while and Charlo showed us her favourite independent shops.

3.       Botanical gardens

We headed to the very pretty botanical gardens, with its own mini Eden Project going on,  as Charlo wanted to show us a bear pit. There is no more bears in this pit after a baby fell into it and got eaten, way back in the Victorian times. There was a statue of bear there, it wasn’t a statue of a bear eating a baby. We were tired and hot so we rested under a tree where curious squirrel came uncomfortably close. After googling “what happens if a squirrel bites you?” we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to get bitten by a squirrel...

We headed back to Charlo’s house to hose down Charlo and Sarah who (reluctantly) scoffed down the last chocolate ‘fancie’ cupcake. And then, with Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (read by Stephen Fry) blaring out of our windows, we said goodbye to Sheffield and headed off to the final stage of the first blue door on tour near Bradford.    

Until next time,

Eve xox

 

First Blue Door On Tour - Part 1: Bedford

Before I begin this tale of adventure I have promised a shout out for Lucy, this is her and her hubby's blog http://www.we-resolve.com/ they do wedding photos and stuff. You can go and check it out now if you promise to come back after, and read about our tour. Ok? Deal!    

Myself, Sarah and Eve went to visit each other last week, Katie couldn't join us as she managed to get herself a job! And I was really looking forward to going to that massive Decathlon in Stockport…not even joking. So 3 girls, 4 days and 350 (ish) miles. This is Part 1 the adventure.

Eve joined me at Sheffield and we ventured on the train to the South, via Kettering and it's lack of signs in the station. We safely arrived in Bedford where Sarah met us and drove us back to her village. At this point I should mention two things: 1 that Sarah lives in the middle of sodding nowhere and 2 her car is an old Corsa called Gary, which has no air con. We had our tea from a van that visits the village once a week to sell fish and chips. That's how small the village is, they don't even have a Chippy! I realised we were definitely in the South: they didn't sell gravy - having lived in the North all my life I was somewhat unnerved by this prospect. After tea we had a walk round the village (they have thatched roofs!) and watched Luther & How Harry Met Sally, I fell asleep so I still don't know how it ends. I presume they get together? 

The next day we ventured into Bedford itself, it's a pretty town with a river and "castle". Now if you've never been to Bedford I should inform you that the castle no longer exists, and hasn't done for around 800 years but it appears to be the only tourist attraction there… However the museum next to the site had some great historical dressing up props, I mean it was very informative and educational. After learning all about Bedford, the "castle" and its famous residents (of which I'd heard of two) we had ice cream on the Embankment. Interesting scenes on the Embankment included: a boat with a live owl on it (although the boat was not pea green and there was no cat), and knitted scarves round the lamp posts, obviously! Next we headed back into Bedford town centre in 30-odd degree heat before the long journey up North to Sheffield. Using my amazing engineering and diy skills, we created an in car air con system by tying battery powered hand fans from poundland, to the inside of the car. We also had some entertainment for the voyage: Sarah throwing a J20 on herself whist driving, The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, & Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone both on cassette. Yes you read that correctly, on cassette.

I'll leave you with this from The Killers I think it perfectly sums up First Blue Door On Tour; the lyrics are from Enterlude

We hope you enjoy your stay

It's good to have you with us

Even if it's just for the day

We hope you enjoy your stay

Outside the sun is shining

It seems like heaven ain't far away

It's good to have you with us

Even if it's just for the day

Eve and Sarah will inform you about the rest of the adventure in Sheffield and Bradford.  

God Bless,

Charlo x

Wherever You Will Go

Though the title is humorous to all those you get the reference to The Calling's song, this blog post is fairly deep and serious. I think it'll be a great way to reboot the blog.

Yesterday, for the university us First Blue Door On The Left girls go to, was when our module results were finalised and posted online. We are now on our last year at university and for a lot of people we know it's their result for their undergraduate degree before they head out into the scary real world and get those "real" jobs.

For me personally, I've always been a worrier, especially about the future. I was emotional wreck after the A-Level results and I sat in my living room refreshing the UCAS page, panicking that the results I got won't get me into university. I got in and really do believe it's because of the big guy upstairs. Last night after midnight, I was again frantically refreshing the page as it annoyingly couldn't log in and I was again worrying about my future (the recent pile of unsuccessful job applications didn't help with my lack of confidence in myself).

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

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Possibly two of my favourite bible verses. For you recent graduates or other students who are facing the near end of university! I know that God (although I do wish He is clearer in explaining...) does have a plan for me and the rest of the Housies, and pretty sure He'll be there every step of the way. I'm still learning to trust in that.

Talk soon,

Eve

P.S. We are staying at First Blue Door on the Left for another year! Woo!

P.S.S And yes. The Calling's 'Wherever you will go' was playing on repeat while typing this 

Toasties and Joeys

Hey there! It's a two part blog post!

Toasty crazy

An essential part of our household is the toasty maker, though I believe it hasn’t made an appearance in the blog yet! :O Brought into the house by moi and consequently changed the way us firstbluedoorontheleft girls have our sandwiches. Normal sandwiches isn’t an option anymore, toasties are the future.  Experimental toasties include the tasty Mature Cheddar Cheese, Red Onion and Relish Toasty made by Chef Charlo. Definitely could see it being on the menu in a posh café.

The day the Jehovah's Witnesses came...

Hey, hey look! Jesus is here!

This morning, some Jehovah Witnesses knocked on our door and Sarah answered. When I was in the living room, Sarah walked in with the booklet she was handed and her bible. She had been making notes and putting together theological counter arguments. It transpired that they wanted to come back to the house for an extended chat. Sarah wanted to invite them in for a brew and have a good honest debate on the Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs.       

Our evangelism technique... (katie's photo)

I do feel blessed to be living in this house! Go on Sarah! As it says on the back of their booklet, the truth will set you free!

Love ya and see ya soon,

Eve

A Quick Catch Up

So as it's been a while since our last blog post (Sorry about that), here's a little catch up of what's been goin down at the first blue door on the left!!

We've had a couple more visitors so far this year!! We were blessed to have Eve's brother over for a weekend; was nice meeting him. As I write this post, we are preparing for the arrival of Katie Fresher, who is coming for tea.

We had Project Plum, dying Charlo's hair purple!! This may not seem like such a big thing, but it was for Charlo who isn't normally an impulsive person. Eve and I played the part of applying the dye to the hair and then were towel bearers while the dye was washed out. I am happy to say Project Plum was a great success!! :)

Taken by me 

Also for the first time since we have lived here there has been snow!! It wasn't that much as it didn't really  settle properly, but the most snow I've seen here!! :) But I am now looking forward to some sun and a bit of warmth!!

Courtesy of Katie

Eve and Charlo took a trip to the cinema to watch Les Miserables and were surprised when they had to stand for God Save the Queen, before the film began. They were also amazed to be able to get popcorn for £1.50 and also be served Hot Chocolate... wait for it... in mugs for 50p!!

Some of us are trying to make a healthy start to the year. Charlo has been experimenting with a calorie restricted diet... although personally don't think she needs to!! I have started going swimming, hopefully twice a week!!

We have all been working hard, especially Katie and Eve who have had exams to deal with!! Well done to both of you for completing them :) can now relax a little!!

I'm sure I've probably missed a few things, but I think it gives you the general gist of what we've been up to. Hope your January has been as full as ours!! :)

lots of love
Sarah x