Adventures in Aberdeen

The road trip

2010-08-07T07:27:00.004+01:00

Well, the journey from Southern California to Colorado took us about 18 hours, split over 3 days of driving.

We intentionally made frequent stops to allow my pregnant body to stretch.

I didn't take any photos in California, Nevada, or Arizona. I was pretty out of it during our first day of driving. However, once we hit Utah, I just had to pull out the camera...so many beautiful sites.

And, then we hit Colorado.

And, yes, it is quite colorful.

After crossing the border, we drove another 4 hours to reach "home".

Coffee was necessary at this point for Kyle, and I was ready for my second lunch.

We've been quite entertained by the skies the last few days...thunder storms, hail stones, clear blue skies, and all sorts of crazy clouds.

Not your average shopping mall

2010-07-30T05:07:00.002+01:00

So the chilling continues, but now we are in Orange County visiting friends and getting ready for our road trip. Today we visited a place we'd never been to before, and it was quite a treat.

We didn't shop, but just wandered around, brousing through the stores and enjoying the the setting.

Sherriff Sawyer kept us from getting into trouble.

The best part about this shopping center was the outdoor atmosphere. We sat on some tree benches in the shade for a while, enjoying the breeze. The coolest feature was the hammock!

Chillin

2010-07-18T01:55:00.004+01:00

It hasn't taken long to have our first barbeque back in the States. We are at Kelli's family's house and they decided to get a new barbeque - and we were more than happy to help them eat some hamburgers.

We have also enjoyed getting to know the new puppy - Tigger - who has been fun.

Tigger seems to think that if he follows me around he will be well fed. Probably a pretty safe assumption!

Other than that, we've just been chillin in Bakersfield since we've arrived a couple of days ago. We are trying to get over jetlag and trying our best to relax a bit. We'll have some more updates soon!

Last few days in Aberdeen

2010-07-12T13:11:00.000+01:00

As I sit and write this we are getting ready for bed on the eve of our departure from Aberdeen. Almost exactly four years after we arrived, we now leave, with about the same amount of clarity about our future! This time has, without question, been a truly blessed time, and we will both miss Aberdeen dearly. For four of the five years of our marriage we have lived in Aberdeen, and it has truly become home. We both know that the weight of this life change won't set in for many weeks, and we know that we go back with excitement for the future but also a real melancholy about leaving our friends and home here.

Even though our time here was "winding down" this past week, we've made sure we made the most of it. I graduated, as can be seen below...

...we spent some good time with friends over some ice cream and coffee...

...had some going away parties...

and shared life with those here who we've shared life with.

We hope and pray that all of our friends will make it over to the States for a visit, and we are already planning our next trip out, Lord willing, with our little girl, at some point. This phase of life has been a blessed time, and we leave Aberdeen knowing it will always have a soft place in our heart. To our Aberdeen friends, we hope we will continue to share life with you from afar, and trust that the Lord will allow our paths to cross soon.

Hello's and Goodbye's

2010-07-09T07:08:00.000+01:00

We are well in the mix of saying our goodbyes to our friends here in Scotland, which is never easy, but we also had the chance to say hello to some friends who we met here who have since moved on to Israel. The Foreman family came back for a visit and so it was fun hanging out with them. It is a bit weird to be catching up at the same time as saying goodbye, but it was fun to meet up with friends we haven't seen in a while.

We took a stroll along the beach which was the place Kelli and I would always run into them our first year. We both tended to take late night walks in the Summer and so it was fun to do so again. We'll try to get more updates done if we can, but things are getting really crazy here until we go.

Our final castle adventure

2010-07-07T20:32:00.005+01:00

Yesterday we quite randomly happened to visit one last castle before we depart Aberdeen. The intention of this adventure was to visit the castle gardens. Interestingly, this castle was one of the first grounds we visited four years ago. During Easter break of 2006 we came to Aberdeen for a week to see if Kyle wanted to study here. Our cousins took us to this castle on that trip; however, the gardens were closed during that time. So, four years later, after visiting many castles all over Scotland, we made it back to see these gardens. Truly a peaceful stroll and a lovely evening.

Last trip to Inverness

2010-07-02T21:52:00.006+01:00

Today was a long, but very good day. We took the train to Inverness to say goodbye to our cousins. The weather was perfect for such a train journey. This picture does not do justice to the views from the train window. Scotland is truly beautiful, with all its green hills, peaceful animals, and bright blue skies.

We spent some time in our cousins' garden...lots of beaufiful flowers.

A lovely visit.

A special place

2010-06-23T08:08:00.000+01:00

The garden pictured below is by far my most favourite place in Aberdeen. We've posted pictures of Johnston Gardens before, but not like this one. A friend and I went there last friday, with some coffees and a croissant to share. It was a classic cloudy, windy and cold Aberdeen day, but the gardens gave the day some colour. I will defintely miss this place.

Pudding Party

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000+01:00

Kelli and I went to our first pudding party. For those of you in the states, a pudding is simply a "dessert," and not necessarily pudding - which would be custard. In any case, our university ministry put together a pudding party the Thursday night of finals week. If I remember correctly, 16 people made puddings, everything from brownies, rhubarb crumble, Carolina Mud Pie, Mars Bar Cheesecake, Ice Cream, Cookies, and all sorts of other yummy goodness.

Our little gym area was all set up for hanging out, having tea or coffee and stuffing one's face full of food. We had a lot of students come by, which is always good, but when you have free food not all that surprising!

My buddy Glenn and I had to make sure that the puddings were edible, for safety reasons...

Below is a pic early on before most of the puddings got there. It was fun to see people show up and have whole new dessert options!

The packing has begun

2010-06-14T10:51:00.000+01:00

The current bane of my existence is the packing that we have to do before we leave. Packing is one thing, but making a complete inventory of all of your books is wholly other. We were prepared to take a week long nightmarish book-inventorying extravaganza when a friend of mine suggested I use Delicious Library (check it out here). Delicious Library is about the coolest thing ever. First, you grab a book and hold up the barcode to the camera on your laptop. Second, the picture of the book appears on the screen on a virtual bookshelf, and then third, you can download a inventory of your books with author, name, isbn, price, etc. Pretty awesome. Here are some pics we took of the job.

One of the students from our university group offered to come over and help. We had to turn off the feature that reads aloud the name of the books because that got old real quick.

Who knew packing could be so fun?

The bump is officially out

2010-06-12T11:00:00.003+01:00

Well, people are now letting me know how big my bump is...as if I didn't know :) Here's to 20 more weeks of people telling me how massive I am!

Week 19

Week 20

Beauty in Aberdeen

2010-05-17T20:58:00.006+01:00

One of my favorite times of year in Aberdeen is when the Cherry blossoms come out. My walk to campus when we first moved here had more Cherry blossoms, (the one's you see below) where as now I only walk by one on campus. Fortunately, we still get to see these on our walk to church. There is a line of them in a walled cemetary and they lean over the wall giving some much needed color to the grey of King's Street.

Unfortunately, these last for only about two weeks and then they just look like regular green trees. Sad...I blame the fall.

Ceilidh

2010-05-17T20:43:00.004+01:00

So, this past weekend I went to my first ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee), which was the second one Kelli has attended since we've been here. This particular ceilidh was a fundraiser for our church, who is sending a team to Uganda.

For those who you who may be ceilidh illiterate, a ceilidh is a traditional Scottish dance (click here for more info). Scottish children grow up learning the dances in school, so they are all extremely familiar with the dances. It is one of those really cool pieces of culture in Scotland. The guys wear kilts and the girls usually dress up.

This ceilidh was at a random location downtown in a place called The Tunnels. The Tunnels is a venue under the street level in what were literally tunnels under the street. Pretty random, but it makes for a cool location. Here are some pics.

The first pic, above, was of the most random dance they did. This dance had a certain number of couples dancing in a large circle, and at one point two of the couples came together and spun around with the girls in the air. One group took a pretty awesome spill!

The band, below, is a group of the students from our university ministry who threw a band together for the evening. Two of the members play together in a ceilidh band normally, so they ended up being realy good (despite only one practice together!).

Here, above, is Kelli and I not dancing. We kept it that way through the evening even through ridicule. I kept persisting that WE were pregnant which meant that I couldn't dance as well. When that didn't work, I assured them that becoming a theologian was based on two decisions: 1) wanting to rock the sweet look that theologians pull off; and 2) not having to dance.

Below is a fun pic which doesn't really capture the quickness of the ceilidh dances but is a cute picture of two of the students from our small group (who are dating) as well as two of our friends talking on the left. We tried to get some videos up but we weren't able to for some odd reason. We'll see what we can do.

Baby Strobel

2010-05-15T10:07:00.004+01:00

Well, word is out, we're having a baby! Kelli and I found out a while back, and it was hard to keep it a secret, but we managed pretty well. As you can see from the picture below, there is clearly something in the water here in Scotland. Several of our closest friends here our pregnant as well, each of us at slightly different phases in the process!

One of the joys of the timing of all of this is that we were able to tell my parents in person when they came for a visit, which was fun. I thought we were about to get kicked out of the restaurant we were in when I told them because my dad shouted, "What?!" Needless to say, it was a surprise. We decided to put my dad to work on research for us while they were here, as he is becoming an old pro at being an expecting grandfather!

Another aspect of the timing that worked out well was that we got our first scan the day before my parents left. Here is the little person living in Kelli. Quite the hour-glass figure huh?! I personally like the hands just chillin on top of their oval-shaped core. Makes me laugh every time.

Ever since the pregnancy Kelli has been on a cranberry and lime kick. It was such a hit that my dad and I kept ordering them as well - they are good! As most of you know, kelli is quite the coffee drinker, and you might be wondering how that is going. Another aspect of the timing that was incredibly providential was that kelli decided to give up coffee for lent, which started about 2 weeks before we found out that we were pregnant. Crazy!

This is our latest picture of Kelli's bump. She is just starting to show, and I think she feels a lot bigger than she really is. We'll do a better job of updating this with progress. The baby is due Oct. 28th, so Kelli is 16 weeks along. She feels a lot better these days than she did early on, but is still pretty tired. She is going to be cutting back on work bit by bit, and we hope that helps. That's it for now, we'll post more soon!

Balmedie Beach

2010-05-08T20:08:00.003+01:00

Apologies for another long break in the blogging. I'll just blame it on the fact that I am pregnant, and just cannot be bothered to blog; however, you all know we tend to take some blogging breaks every now and then.

Kyle's folks came to visit in April, which was perfect timing because Kyle had just finished the whole PhD process. It was truly a lovely holiday. I'll post some more photos soon.

One evening before dinner we decided to work up an appetite by heading to the beach north of the city.

It was a quick stop, but definitely a workout!

Lots of wind and hills, sandy hills actually.

Forunately, the sky was nice and clear that night. Summer nights are almost here!

Some of the daffodils are here!

2010-03-29T17:14:00.003+01:00

There most definitely will be more!

A lovely day for a wedding

2010-03-27T17:33:00.003Z

Today we were guests at our first Scottish wedding. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, held in a 500+ year old cathedral. After a week filled with rain, clouds and fog, we were quite happy to have the sun bless us with its presence. In fact, the sun was so bright it made keeping our eyes open for photos difficult!

There were big kilts...

little kilts...

thistles...

and hats!

It was truly a lovely day, and a lovely experience.

Back on our feet

2010-03-21T20:20:00.003Z

After having some sort of cold or virus for 3 weeks, Kyle and I finally feel a bit normal these days. I think the beginnning of spring has definitely helped, and the fact that the semester is almost over.

I managed to get out for a little jog this weekend, which was more of a walk than a jog, but it was great to smell fresh air and capture some early spring photos.

These photos may look familiar, as this particular jog was on one of my regular routes. The bareness of the trees actually surprised me. I guess I usually avoid this trail during the winter because of all the mud. And since flowers have started popping up, I assumed the trees would have leaves again. I'm still getting familiar with proper seasons, and that each bit of creation has its own time for blossoming.

The daffodils are almost here!

2010-03-18T21:44:00.003Z

As Kyle mentioned in the last post, spring is definitely approaching. We have stopped wearing our heavy jackets, and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the daffodils. Every year I forget that other flowers come up first, which are pictured below.

The purple and white flowers brighten my morning as I walk to work. In possibly another week or so, the entire green hill pictured below will be covered with yellow daffodils!

The darkness is departing!

2010-03-15T21:12:00.003Z

The dark and damp which saturate much of the year is slowly beginning to fade and the Sun is making a claim for its short-lived dominance in the Summer season. Spring is upon us, which means that we are once again walking in the light when we get up in the morning! While that is sure to change in two weeks once we turn back the clocks - it will only change for a short while. Soon we will have light all day - and almost all night - long. It is a good time of year, and it has come with perfect timing.

Strolling through Durham

2010-02-26T15:49:00.000Z

Journey to Durham

2010-02-23T18:39:00.000Z

Kelli and I made the trip down to Durham last Thursday afternoon, stopping in Edinburgh for the night with our cousins. We thought we would show you a bit of our trip. First, as you can see, we grabbed some coffee to go at a gas station (coffee which might be a little too optimistic about its quality!).

Then, we kept up our track record of getting lost at least once per journey and turned around at this random estate entrance.

Other than taking a wrong turn or two, the journey down was pretty uneventful...except for a half an hour blizzard in Northern England. It started with some flurries, but those quickly turned into a major storm. A semi skidded off the road and traffic came to a sliding halt at one point, where we all sat on the highway for about 5 minutes without moving. After that, the rest of our time in the snow was driving 20 miles per hour trying not to get too close to the person in front of you.

As quickly as the snow came it stopped, and we made it unscathed to Durham. We'll post more about the time there, but here is a pic of the Cathedral from across the town.

Blue skies in Glasgow?

2010-02-17T16:06:00.000Z

Every time we visit Glasgow, it rains. We were surprised last Saturday when we saw blue skies.

Love the random architecture in this city!

But of course, it eventually rained...

The Legend of the Invisible Bookshop

2010-02-15T16:27:00.000Z

You may have heard the rumor of the invisible theological bookstore, whose lore is often passed from one geek to another like the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. Like all such epic fables, the details - which were always blurry to begin with - seem to grow with time: there is no sign on the building, they don't sell books online, they don't actually have opening hours, they lock you in when you shop and don't answer the door unless you call their secret number.

These kinds of tid-bits are expected, but like most of us who have heard the story, we dream of the core truth - as there often is with these stories. We think about the aisles of theology books, stacked wherever there is extra space, with no rhyme or reason behind it. We day-dream about the out-of-print books for a pound and the arbitrary discounts inevitably dispensed by the Santa-Clause-like patron who wanders his collection of volumes like Santa his workshop.

So why do I write about this bookstore that can't be found except by those who already know where it is? Because Kelli and I found it - and while we have sworn an oath not to reveal its location, we are able to provide photographic evidence of its existence.

What surprised us most was not the aisles of books - everywhere - nor was it the total lack of order (any real order would have ruined it anyway). No, what surpised us was the fact that all of the legends were true. After phoning for an appointment, arriving on time, and waiting for the door to be unlocked, we were ushered in and the door locked behind us. As you can see above, there is no sign, just an old non-descript building in the middle of nowhere. For three hours we plundered the treasures within, hoping to return and hoping more that it will remain just the way it is.

Snow and Sea

2010-01-30T23:12:00.000Z

This is just weird for a California girl to see.

Apparently, it's a great time to surf!?

Snow!

2010-01-29T19:10:00.000Z

We had a lovely walk home tonight!

Review of 2009

2010-01-12T17:09:00.000Z

It is only fitting that I write this blog, looking back at 2009, with jetlag...in the middle of the night. 2009 was a major year of travel for us, and, with that, jetlag. We start with last January when Kelli and I took our trip North. We went for a week around Britain's northernmost mainland area, and enjoyed every minute of it (well...except for that minute when I was writhing on the ground after spraining my ankle). Here is one of our many one-track roads up North, and one of the many beautiful Lochs we passed on our way.

February brought a friend from seminary, Chris, who was on his way to Africa for the year. Chris took a quick trip which included the coldest walk along water I've ever taken!

We don't have a March because our camera was broken :( But, through the power of magic, it works again! (By magic I mean anything that happens to fix electronics). Fortunately, after the financial strain of broken electronics, Kelli was hired on as a lecturer at Robert Gordon University! We were very excited, and still are, for such a great opportunity. It is a long way from our first year in Aberdeen wondering how in the world we were going to find her something to do (now only if we could find her less!).
In April, we could adapt the old adage of "April showers bring May flowers" to something like, "A decades worth of rain throughout the year brings flowers in April." In any case, come April, we get a lot of them.

In May we had more friends arrive. Mel and Mark came for a wee visit and we gave them the classic tour around the area, including one of our favorites - Dunnottar Castle!

While this pic provides a peaceful outlook of the month of June, it was anything but. I taught a 3 week long intensive class in California (3 hours a day 5 days a week), we went to one of our favorite spots (San Luis Obispo), hung out with the family and went to Palm Desert. We were back for about 6 weeks in all...crazy.

In July we were back in Aberdeen for our birthdays. After taking a couple of weeks getting over jetlag (I get ruined coming over for about 2 weeks), Kelli and I took advantage of the long days by getting out and seeing the sun. Likewise, come July around campus there are always weddings going on. Here is a pic from one of them.

August was time for us to enjoy getting back into the groove of our life in Aberdeen. I turned my attention away from developing the class I had just taught, which I loved doing, and really focused on why we came to Aberdeen in the first place.

September was time for me to hit the ground running with my dissertation. This was when I started seeing the end in sight (the end I still seem to be seeing!).

October brings our students back to us! Kelli and I lead a group of university students, and so the Summers always seem to leave our place a bit quiet (and leave us with a bit more food!). We always look forward to having them back.

In November we celebrated the engagement of our friends Julie and Derek, and took a day trip to Inverurie. There, I tried something called a yum-yum, pictured here on the lower left. To the untamed eye it is simply a donut, but do not be fooled, it is as dense as a scone, as sweet as a donut and as good for you as a swim in McDonalds' grease.

December brought another round of flights which provided me the current jetlag I now enjoy. Here is a pic from downtown Castle Rock, which is about as random of a pic as we could find!

Well, we look forward to seeing what God has for us in the coming year. I should, Lord willing, finish up in the Spring, and Kelli and I continue to wait in expectation for future plans to substantialize...but it looks like we may be waiting a while! We'll see, it could be that there is another years worth of Aberdeen adventures ahead of us.

Traveling randomness

2010-01-06T13:27:00.000Z

We saw some snow...and ended up coming back to Scotland which was swamped with snow...but enjoyed having a white Christmas.

We also saw the ocean and some pelicans which was nice. Our bodies were confused by California sunshine (too bad we only experienced it for 48 hours or so).

We strolled in the sun and drank coffee to try and make the most of the little time we had.

We chatted with our friends' kids, in, of course, a coffee shop...

Drank more coffee in our snazzy new coffee mugs...

And also read some books to our little friends (I tried reading them my dissertation but they were not impressed!).

Good times in Castle Rock

2009-12-31T16:32:00.000Z

I know it has been a while since our last blog, but that is the reality of taking a holiday. I'm just getting around to posting on the first half of our trip, the Colorado half, and will hopefully post some more soon. For those of you who don't know, my whole family have moved to Colorado since our last trip home (which was only in the Summer). So, taking a trip "home" entailed flying to a new place...which was a bit weird. We had a blast seeing a new place, getting settled in to my parents new house and visiting with my sister, her husband and our little nieces. It is always crazy to see how much the little one's grow in such a short period of time. This is Kelli and I with the girls and Abby's big Christmas present.

This is one of the coffee shops in downtown Castle Rock, the nearest little village to my parents. Kelli had a fun morning with my sister and the girls hanging out in the warm to keep out of the snow.

In an attempt to keep up our walking ability, beyond our strolls through Castle Rock, Kelli and I took an hour long walk down the paths throughout my parent's area. It is amazing how warm it can be in CO in the winter with how dry it is and how much sun you get there (both of which are foreign to us in Scotland!).

We'll try to get more updates done soon. We had a blast with the family and loved Colorado. It was the first Christmas that the nieces, at least Abby, understood Christmas, so that was a lot of fun. We look forward to seeing Colorado in the Summer, and hopefully exploring a bit!

The New Mall

2009-12-11T08:32:00.000Z

Well, as you might expect from my last post, Aberdeen has a new mall. The train station, which was in terrible need of updating, is now subsumed within a brand new mall and hotel complex. The word on the street is that Aberdeen actually has decent shopping now - who would have guessed! We even have our own Apple store.

There is a TK Max along the back side of the mall (yes, for all you US folks, it is the same as TJ Max), and I made friends with this lamp.

This angle allows you to see the train station entrance on the right and the new hotel on the left. The hotel, a Jury's Inn, attaches to the mall and is one of the first attempts to shift the center of the city back towards the train station. See the hotel website here.

The mall, which isn't all that large, has three coffee shops, two of which are open. The third, a Starbucks, is supposedly going to be the largest in the UK. Random. That is a lot of coffee places for one little mall.

Here is Kelli at one of the coffee shops, a place called the Tinderbox. We liked to go to the one in Glasgow, so it is kind of fun that they have one in Aberdeen now as well.

While we certainly aren't "mall people," it is fun to have some more places to eat. We went to the new burger place and it is really good. It is crazy how much has changed in Aberdeen over the last year or so! Who knows what this next year will hold?

Changes in Aberdeen

2009-12-07T19:55:00.000Z

From all estimates, we are still in the midst of an economic downturn, if not full out recession. Admittedly, most point to factors which seem to show that things are turning a corner. Regardless of economics, Aberdeen doesn't seem to be all that concerned with things like statistics, downturns or, well, money. If you are going to go through an economic crisis, why not just build your brains out?

For all of those who have left Aberdeen, we thought we would update you on some of the new and almost new features of Aberdeen (more posts to come). First, and right next door to our flat, is the new sports village. This place is massive. It was a joint venture between the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen city council and Sports Scotland, and is, I believe, the largest sports complex in the North East of the country. There is a full indoor football pitch, an indoor track, an outdoor track, a weight room and a three basketball court sized gym. Not bad!

The University seems to be building like it's going out of style, so right on the heels of their new gym facility, they have started construction on their new 9 story library (not the building you see here!) - for a virtual tour click here. It, of course, will be done right when I leave!

This wooden fence you see used to be the Mercedes dealer on King Street, that has recently been torn down to make way for new flats. I was hoping for a new and used theology bookstore, but you can't have everything right?

What is certainly the most expensive endeavor of the city council is the total, and I mean total, renovation of Marischal's college. This monument is massive, and they are basically leaving in tact the facade and gutting everything else. This is the building, I have heard, that Hitler wanted for his Britain headquarters (and why not).

And while all these are exciting, by far the most exciting is that our favorite coffee shop has opened their second shop on Aberdeen's campus (right on High Street). Now the university has a real coffee shop, with real food. I don't know what to do with myself. Kelli and I made sure we went over this morning for their "soft opening" and tried to be some of their first customers. Very exciting day.

Well, there will be more changes to post soon no doubt. If the downturn gets any worse, we'll be expanding the airport, building parks, and doubling our shopping space...

Cal Poly Flashbacks

2009-12-05T18:07:00.000Z

I took these pictures this past summer while we were in California, and of course, meant to blog about them then.

Almost 7 years (exactly) have passed since I graduated from uni. Its amazing how being on campus again made me remember things I had forgotten.
Thinking about my time as a university student has really made me aware of some of the things my current students might be going through. So much adjustment takes place; moving into a new "home", meeting new people, missing family and friends, and trying to study and actually learn in the meantime.

Where I studied, we could at least read our books outside on the grass, whereas in Aberdeen...well, I don't think that would be such a good idea.

I remember walking up all these steps to go to a class or meet with my advisor. I hated treking up the top floor!

As this semester draws to an end, I am encouraged. Not simply because we get to visit family soon, but I think my students have actually learned something! I've enjoyed getting to know them and seeing them process new information. We'll see how their assessments go in January, but in the meantime I think I like this teaching stuff!

P.S. To all of my teacher friends...yes, you were correct...I guess deep down I did really want to be a teacher :)

Not your average Thanksgiving meal

2009-11-30T20:45:00.000Z

TURKEY NACHOS! So much easier to make, and quite tasty. We definitely missed celebrating with friends and family back in the states, but we are looking forward to Christmas! Lots to do in the meantime though...UK taxes, visa extension forms, etc. Good times ahead!

They are watching us...

2009-11-30T20:41:00.000Z

November?

2009-11-13T21:37:00.000Z

I cannot believe its the middle of November! I also cannot belive how normal it seems now to see fireworks during this month. Every 5th of November there's a nice little firework show near the beach. We took a peak from a distance with a group of students from church. They were quite excited.

So thankful for sunshine!

2009-11-07T08:40:00.000Z

Well, it is Saturday morning and the sun is creeping through our windows. For the past couple weeks the view from our windows has been something like the picture below...

Most mornings as we leave the flat, we find a dark, cold, and wet Abedeen. However, one morning this week the sky was completelly clear...so nice!

Earlier this week at work I had a quick coffee with a friend. We sat outside on a bench and just let the sun fall on our faces. Yes we wished we had sun glasses on, but it was still pretty awesome. My office is in this building.

It rained when I left work that night, of course!

Isle of Skye

2009-10-24T19:20:00.000+01:00

This post is a long time coming, but we wanted to highlight another part of our trip to the Isle of Skye. Our cousins took us on a one-day road trip to Skye, over the bridge (seen below) and to the main city of Portree. We were a little worried about the weather, as we often are out here, but it turned out to be a pretty good day.

These are some of the mountains on Skye, called the Cuillin Hills. As you can probably see, they are known for their jagged edges and climbers come from all over seeking to transverse the ridge.

Here is the town of Portree. This is a main destination for Summer travel, but by this point in the season it was pretty quiet. It was a good size for a little town that far out.

The town is built around this harbor, which is the reason the town exists in the first place. It is the main jumping off point to some of the other islands off the western coast.

As always, we had to stop and talk to some highland cows. This guy wasn't terribly impressed with us. I tried to talk smack but he refused to look our way. There was a large herd of them on the hill side around him though, including this charcoal greyish one that looked pretty wicked.

Well, that was our trip to Skye - well, not all of it - but enough to give you a feel for some of what we saw. Hopefully we'll have more updates coming soon. Keep an eye out!

Eilean Donan Castle

2009-10-16T19:08:00.000+01:00

So, our cousins suprised us with a visit to Skye last Saturday. En route, we stopped at this castle.

What is going on these days?

2009-10-09T00:10:00.001+01:00

Well, it is now Autumn.

And we're still drinking coffee...

We have actually seen quite a bit of sunshine; however, the winter coats are making their way out of the closet.

The weeks are zooming past without much reflection. I will eventually post some thoughts about the beginning of my first semester of teaching, but right now I'm just thinking about our adventure to Inverness tomorrow. We will likely enjoy the train ride, and then have a relaxing weekend with the cousins. I'm sure we'll have some fun and random stories for you!

Curry Night

2009-10-03T10:23:00.000+01:00

One of the first food realities you are hit with when moving to the UK is that Indian food is as central to their diet as Mexican food is to ours. You often here, "Lets go for a curry," when someone wants to go out to eat, or instead of a pizza night at church you often have a "curry night." I, as you can probably imagine, have been slow to take up the curry mantel. Admittedly, we started making some korma chicken at home, which is the standard meal for the non-curry-baptized.

But, after enjoying korma for many months, I decided to take the next step and actually order "real" curry. Now, this might sound a lot more impressive than it is, but for me, all it meant was ordering korma in rather than making from a jar. But I had three korma options, which was a bit distressing, and went with the one that sounded less weird than the others.

To take this plunge, we carried out from Blue Moon:

They always throw in these poppadoms which people dip into chutney or whatever else. They weren't bad.

We had the curry with our friends Alister and Renee (secretly trying to spur on her pregnancy with curry - a common cure), and here is Al with my favorite part of curry - naan bread. Naan is so good.

Naan is so good in fact that I had to put on my tearing-naan-face.

So here was our curry: a little rice, some chutney (I'm afraid of chutney, mostly because it is called chutney, so I stayed away), chicken, veg, and of course, naan...mmmmmmmm.

Kyle's new task...

2009-09-28T21:19:00.000+01:00

Making me dinner! This past week was a bit crazy. Monday was a 10 hour day for me at work, which did not inclue my commute. I phoned Kyle around 5 and told him to eat without me, unless he wanted to try and roast a chicken for the both of us. And he did! All by himself. I didn't even give him any hints. For those of you who know Kyle, you know how impressed I was coming home to a yummy roasted chicken. He actually ended up making dinner 3 times last week! I might like this new routine...

New Stuff

2009-09-27T20:25:00.000+01:00

So, Kelli and I, as of today (Sunday the 27th) have officially been in Aberdeen for three years. Kind of crazy. We are both a bit sick of feeling like we live in a dorm room, so we tried to make some changes to the flat to make it feel a bit more homey. Fortunately for us, our landlord dropped me an email a couple of months back and told us he was ordering us new couches and a new kitchen table with chairs. Nice. So, we pushed some of the book shelves against one wall and now have something of a reading nook.

I'm not sure this is the best picture of me...or the table for that matter, but you get the idea. We moved the old kitchen table into the spare bedroom for Kelli's desk, and we moved the other desk in their as well. So, we kind of lost our spare bedroom, but since it was used for about two weeks a year we thought it wasn't a bad thing to lose. Now we have a dedicated work space for when we need to work at home as well as an actual living room, which really helps make the place feel more like an actual home.

So, this could very well be our last year in Aberdeen (the Lord only knows), but I think this will help us feel a bit more settled in all of the unsettledness that seems to accompany our pilgrim existence.

Summer in September

2009-09-12T18:49:00.000+01:00

Today was truly a beautiful day. Days like today totally make up for the weeks of rain we experience in August and July.

On our late morning walk we came across seals basking in the sun. They kind of look like logs in this picture; however, we did see them flopping around.

The stroll through Seaton Park was just lovely.

We topped off the afternoon with a nice berry salad, and then hit the books!

Dude's garden

2009-09-06T17:18:00.000+01:00

Sir Walter Scott had a pretty awesome garden. Evidently walled gardens were all the rage back in the day, the equivalent of having a pool manse or something. We wanted to show you some of the crazy flowers he had, so we hope you enjoy!

You can see the house in the background to give you some perspective on the yard.

It might have been raining at this point...but what do you expect?

Not an Abbey

2009-09-05T18:00:00.000+01:00

Abbotsford House was Sir Walter Scott's sweet and awesome pad. This guy was the rock star of his age with this place.

As you can see, it has the feel of a castle, which is true both inside and out, and had some unbelievable grounds (we'll show more in the next post).

The picture above is from the front of the house, and the picture below is the back. The back had a view overlooking a river and had a good amount of forest surrounding the property. He also had a beautiful side yard and garden with a walled garden next to it (next post).

Most impressively, he had a study and a library that was incredible. We couldn't take pictures inside so we had to download these from the website, but let me just say that this is the less impressive of the two rooms. They still have 9000 rare books in his library. His library, pictured here, had reading tables and overlooked the back of the house. The window of the back of the house was from this room. His actual office was surrounded with these same book shelves, and had a spiral staircase to a mezzanine level of the same. Beautiful

Sweetheart Abbey

2009-09-04T17:00:00.000+01:00

On our second day of abbey exploring Kelli and I meandered down South to hit up Sweetheart Abbey. This wasn't the largest of abbeys, but it was built out of a red stone you find out here sometimes, which gives the structure an interesting look. That, and the fact that grass had grown in the inner-structure made the look of the place really interesting.

Here you can see the red in the stone a bit more. This was a tomb that sat on the side portion of the cathedral next to the altar.

Here is a shot while standing in the middle of the nave looking down to where the altar would have been. The grass was so green that it almost mutes the color of the cathedral.

This pic is the same as before but now standing outside of the main entrance looking down the nave.

This last shot is from the corner of the graveyard looking back at the abbey. It was beatiful while we were there.

Dryburgh Abbey

2009-09-01T10:45:00.000+01:00

This abbey was off by itself in a forest.

There was quite a lot of detail remaining in the architecture...

A 'comfy' seat to take a rest from exploring in the rain!

A sweet and awesome old book shelf.

A great spot to listen to monks sing (there was a recording coming from somewhere).

A nearby hotel on the banks of a river.

Jedburgh Abbey

2009-08-30T20:40:00.000+01:00

From some of the pics it may seem that all of the abbeys look the same, but that isn't the case. This is Jedburgh abbey, which we thought was the second most impressive of the string of four abbeys. It is set on a hill and has an imposing presence.

To give you a bit of perspective we put Kelli in this pic in front of one of the main walls to the cathedral portion.

As always, plenty of spiral staircases (they loved these things)!

Here is a model of what the original would have looked like. It was a pretty impressive compound, especially considering that there was four of these within a 55 mile trek.

This place even had a sewage system! You have to be impressed with that. These monks think of everything.

Kelso Abbey

2009-08-28T19:15:00.000+01:00

This abbey was pretty ruined, much more than the others. We were glad it was the first one we went to. It was a good warm up...no extra miles to walk or stairs to climb!

This part was cool, but definitely not original.

Melrose Abbey

2009-08-27T19:53:00.000+01:00

Though this was the last major abbey we saw I will start with it because it was in the town we stayed. Just two blocks from our hotel was Melrose Abbey, which turned out to be by far the most impressive of the ruins.

Melrose is nothing short of massive. In ruins like these you often find no roof, a general structure remaining so that you can try to imagine what it looked like, and maybe a couple of really old tombstones. Melrose on the other hand had a roof covering part of the building, as well as a spiral staircase going all the way to the top so that you could look out over the whole place. Not only that, but as you will see below, there were still sculptures remaining - which is unheard of in a ruin like this. Melrose was evidently an impressive display of detail by John Morow from France (who evidently was brought up as an expert stone mason). The detail that still exists is staggering, including a bag-pipe playing pig near the top of one of the walls!

Above you can see the portion of the nave without the roof and the foothills in the backdrop with low cloud cover. It was an unusual day with the weather (well, not that unusual!), but we were able to stay dry for most of our time here. Below you see how large of a building it was. Ever since we got here I have said that if Scotland's cathedrals were still in tact no one would have ever heard of Notre Dame (but I digress).

Below you can see some of the statutes atop the buttresses. There were a couple of these on that side and some in the inner part of the abbey (of Peter and Paul).

The graveyard had some pretty cool looking crosses, this being one of our favorites.

An interesting tree...

2009-08-22T12:46:00.000+01:00

I saw this tree on the grounds of Dryburgh Abbey.
Up close, it looks like its wrapped in ribbons...with the rest of the tree trying to bust through the seams. Part of me wanted to pull strips of the bark off to see what happened, but I just took some pictures instead!

Melrose

2009-08-20T18:01:00.000+01:00

I thought it fitting that our first post after the post on driving should be where we stayed. We've had decent luck when we've picked new places to stay in Scotland, and this was one of the best. We stayed in Melrose, a tiny town in Scotland that has benefited from being a tourist destination because of its famous abbey (by far the most impressive of the four main abbeys in that region).

For instance, Melrose is absolutely tiny, but has at least 4 nice hotels in town and 4 to 5 nice restaurants (pretty unusual for a town of its size). There was also some nice shopping places, and, more to Kelli's and my interests, coffee shops! We sat under an overhang while it drizzled out and enjoyed watching the towns-people hurry about trying not to get wet.

Here is a shot down the main street of the town, away from the main square area.

This was a particularly exciting discovery! My body seemed to steer itself towards the book shop without knowing it was there. I made a great cheap purchase as well.

All in all, Melrose is a great little town. I think the Southern part of Scotland has more cool towns than the North does. We went through a lot of towns with more than just character (though plenty of that), but actually had a lot of substance to them. We look forward to going back and hitting up some of the towns we were only able to drive through.

Driving to, in, and on the Borders.

2009-08-18T18:14:00.000+01:00

I did a lot of driving over the weekend. Driving in Scotland is always interesting, but especially so when you head off the beaten track a bit. As you will see, we were on a lot of one-track roads where you pray that no one will be coming the other direction. We did have a moment when an SUV had to back up about 20 yards to a point where they could pull up on the grass a bit so that we could get by.

We also had some problems with random road closings. We've never had too hard a time getting around, but this trip was filled with some of the worst signed areas I've ever been in. We would stay on the road we were supposed to take and it would change directions without offering any signage to explain this oddity. We spent a lot of time with a map out taking tiny little "b" roads (which I'm convinced stands for "Bad") trying to get back to a main road somewhere.

What you've never short of when driving around Scotland is beauty. We really like these old bridges, and they seem to have them everywhere.

At one point we were driving down a road and saw a sign that said "Welcome to England," which we thought was a bit odd. As we drove we seemed to dart in and out of Scotland and England until we saw this welcome sign back to Scotland. I've never driven down to England before!

Pictures can't do justice to the kind of roads we were on. It was like a commercial for a high end sports car weaving around hairpin turns for about an hour the first day we were down there. In order to keep this blog from being too long, we've decided to show you some pics of random distractions (lawn mowing, our car, and some of the sights we saw along the way) Enjoy!

Smell the apples

2009-08-17T17:50:00.000+01:00

OK, we're about to begin a super long blogging sequence, detailing our adventure to the south of Scotland. There was so much to see in 3 days; however, we did manage to savour the moments. I thought I'd begin with these pictures I took at Jedburgh Abbey. I saw the apple trees on the outskirts of the Abbey grounds, and as I approached the trees I could actually smell the apples from about 2 metres away! It was a cool moment...in the rain of course.

New Office Space

2009-08-14T15:46:00.000+01:00

As some of you know, the month after we got back to Scotland was a bit crazy. We immediately went out of town after we got back for a little R and R, and then I found out I had to pack up my office because they were moving me, and then Kent came into town for his viva. In the end, it all worked out well. We had a blast on the West Coast, I like my new office, and it was great seeing Kent and being with him as he finished up.

We thought that this would be a good time (since we are currently out of town and have scheduled this post to post when we were gone), to give a brief update about my progress and new office. Sometimes we forget why we're out here in the first place!

Here is the building I am in. We sit on high street right when it turns into College Bounds. This is one of the original old Aberdeen streets (as you will see from the cobblestone) and is the main street running through the University. My window is the window at the very top on the left.

Here is the view from inside my office looking out that same window you just saw. It is nice having a window. For the last 3 years I've only had a skylight, so it is nice to watch the rain, see the trees blow around in the breeze, etc.

Here is the view if you look out my window to the left...

...here is the view if you look to the right.

This is where you find me most days, around 8:30 most mornings and leaving around 4:30 most days. My progress has been steady, which is encouraging. I just handed in another section this week, which is always exciting, and I wrote it really quickly (we'll see how good it is). My current goal is to have a rough draft of the dissertation done before we go home for Christmas break. This is possible, but will mean some serious work between now and then. I want to finish my last chapter by mid-September, and then go back and do some serious edits on the second to last chapter.

At this stage of the game it is a difficult balance to say all that you need to say, and to say it in less than 100,000 words. Not as easy as one might think. Fortunately, God has been extremely gracious to us in the whole process, and I am still excited and motivated with the whole thing. For many people that isn't the case. That being said, we are starting, more and more, to think about where God will lead us next, and in the midst of it all trying to make sure we are very present here in Aberdeen this year, enjoying the time we know we'll have here.

Isle of Staffa

2009-08-13T09:03:00.000+01:00

Today is our anniversary!!! 4 years and she's not quite sick of me (an impressive accomplishment no doubt). For that reason, we are on the road to a little getaway in the boarders. We will be exploring a bit of Southern Scotland taking a little tour of the famous Abbey ruins there. Should be fun.

It is somewhat fitting that I am doing this post today. This is the last post from our last trip, and is about a funny little island named Staffa. The reason this is fitting is that it was once bought by a wealthy American gentleman for his wife on their anniversay. She ended up giving it to the National Trust for Scotland (I think she was thinking diamonds rather than odd geological formation).

Basically, Staffa is where Superman feels at home. The way the island was formed made portions of it into pillar like sections squeezed together like a Q-bert board (someone must have thought of that too....come on...).

We were able to walk around on the island a bit and go into the famous Fingal's cave. There was some odd mythology about it, but I can't really remember any of it.

The top of Staffa looked like any other island. You can see the little boat we took out to it floating next to the shore down below. Kelli and I walked around the island a bit, and were amazed at how odd it seemed on the side and how normal it was on top.

On the backside of the island I saw this incredible view of the cliffs going into the ocean. It was truly a beautiful place and so random. They say that it is similar to the giants causeway in Ireland, and could possibly be connected in some way geologically. I personally think Superman built this.

Castle Stalker

2009-08-11T10:46:00.000+01:00

Kelli and I stopped over at the lookout over Castle Stalker. They had recently (I believe) added a nice gift shop and cafe, and so we had some coffee and did a bit of reading/journaling. There are a couple of interesting facts about Castle Stalker: First, I have been here before.

Almost 12 years to the month Alison and I took a long bus, and then another bus, and then hiked out to Castle Stalker. Why Castle Stalker, an almost unheard of castle with no significant history or tours? The answer to that question is also our second interesting fact: Castle Stalker was the castle in Monte Python and the Holy Grail with all of the virgins...and I wanted to see it. I didn't have a lot planned for my trip to Scotland after my Freshman year of College, but that was high up on my list.

Rather than hiking down some odd country road chasing sheep, Kelli and I were able to enjoy the view from afar. Alison and I realized when we arrive 12 years ago, after our long travels, that Castle Stalker is in the middle of a loch, hence the new lookout point. This time was a bit more satisfying.

They had a great little cafe there with some good coffee and nice views. Kelli and I grabbed a seat by the window and enjoyed some of the afternoon rain from indoors.

Oddly, Castle Stalker is still privately owned and is even livable (in the back portion). How would you like to live there? Random.

Inverlocky Castle

2009-08-09T08:52:00.000+01:00

Scrabble

2009-08-08T08:10:00.000+01:00

Kelli and I are about to go downtown to enjoy a drink and some Saturday reading at our favorite coffee shop here in Aberdeen. As we ready out things, I thought it would be fitting to post some picks of our last time there.

The last time we went, Kelli and I found ourselves with a lot of time on our hands and not enough reading material (I forgot to bring something). Fortunately, there are a bunch of games available to play, so we went head to head in some scrabble.

Kelli won the round with her odd ability to use two letters and somehow get double word scores.

Since we were out enjoying a bit of a date night, we threw in some serious coffee and desert. Kelli got a soy hazelnut latte, and we split a crepe with chocolate, ice cream and peanut butter...mmmmmmmmm.

Mull from afar

2009-08-07T09:26:00.000+01:00

We actually saw quite a bit of Mull from afar. The picture below is from our boat ride to Staffa (kyle will write about this later).

Here's another 'hawaii' like shot...

These two pictures of Mull were taken while we were on Iona. There were lots of islands...its easy to get them confused.

On the Isle of Mull

2009-08-06T09:17:00.000+01:00

We did not spend much time on the Isle of Mull; however, we did manage to get some random fun photos from the bus.

This place reminded us of Hawaii...what to you think??

St. Conan's Kirk

2009-08-05T18:00:00.000+01:00

One of my favorite things about driving around Scotland is that all of the awesome churches are kept open during the week for tourists to come in and look around. In a land with so many incredible church buildings, it is a blast to wander around a place as beautiful as that with no one around. When we were driving back to Aberdeen from Oban we saw this Kirk on a loch and decided to pull over and take a look. We're glad we did.

St. Conan's was fantastic. It was a bit run down at places, but as you can tell from the pictures it was beautiful. You could see it from the castle we posted about last time from across the loch.

Part of the beauty of the place was that it was nestled in the woods on the edge of a loch and didn't really draw any attention to itself. Once again, this is one of those places in Scotland you can only really come across by accident, which makes driving around such a great time.

We don't have a picture of it here, but the altar area was rounded and had glass windows overlooking the loch. It is still a fully functioning Kirk, but I imagine it has a dwindling congregation. Too bad, it must be cool to go to a place like that every Sunday!

Kilchurn Castle

2009-08-04T09:39:00.000+01:00

This castle was a bit tricky to find. We turned off the highway into some random car park, and then walked a good mile or two before we actually set foot on the grounds.

Well worth the journey though...

We sat here for a bit and looked at Loch Awe.

Dunstaffnage Chapel and Castle

2009-08-03T22:07:00.000+01:00

The chapel in the woods...

We were pretty impressed with the architecture of this castle. It just blends in with the rock it was built on.

Kyle checkin out the well.

Summer in Aberdeen

2009-08-02T16:41:00.000+01:00

Kyle took this video a few days ago, when the city experienced a nice summer hail. We thought we should go ahead and share it today, since it rained all day Saturday. The rain is actually quite peaceful here, as long as you're nice and cozy inside!

We have about 10 more blogs from our west coast trip to share you. We like to pretend we're still on the holiday. Not much else is going on these days. Just working and getting back into our Aberdeen groove. As with most summers here, there have been a lot of "good-byes". It's crazy to think that Kyle will be starting his 4th year of PhD work. Good times...

West Coast Coffee

2009-08-01T15:25:00.000+01:00

We have learned to harness our inner-British and abide by tea time, only we replace "tea" with coffee and "time" with about every two hours. We found some great places on the West Coast to partake in a little brew, so here are some highlights.

This first place was great. It was a cafe and used bookstore (pulling on my heart strings), and had great sticky-toffee pudding (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...sticky).

We took this break after our incredible day on the Isles. We were still on Iona and had just finished spending time in the Abbey and on the grounds, and we came across this great little hotel on the isle overlooking the bay (you can see the hotel in the reflection). We grabbed a table outside and a cafetiere of coffee.

This last place was a great little break from driving all of the curvy roads behind lorries and caravans (read: semis and campers). We grabbed a quick bite to eat and some coffee for the trip, and I was able to snag a pic of Kelli in her element!

What would an adventure of ours be like without coffee?? I am not sure...

More Iona

2009-07-29T21:14:00.000+01:00

I think I might like to live here...

or here...

And I would definitely need a pair of these!

Iona Abbey

2009-07-28T20:55:00.000+01:00

I think I can, I think I can

2009-07-27T20:36:00.000+01:00

We are currently watching a Harry Potter flick, which reminded me that we need to continue with our string of blogs from the west coast adventure. We saw the train and track that is featured in the films. It was pretty cool, even though we didn't get a great view. Just the excitement of waiting for the train to peak out from behind the hills, and then hearing the train chug away before it actually came into view was enough to make us glad we made the quick trip from Oban to the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

After seeing the train, we climbed up the Glenfinnan Monument to catch a different view of the viaduct.

A classic Scottish day...beautiful in its unique way

Boys will be boys

2009-07-25T14:27:00.000+01:00

Nothing captures their attention like Top Gear!

Reflections

2009-07-22T20:07:00.000+01:00

Oh, the places you'll go...

2009-07-20T20:28:00.000+01:00

Time on the water

2009-07-19T20:38:00.000+01:00

We had one of the most beautiful days I have ever seen in Scotland while we were on the west coast, and it couldn't have come at a better time - the day we were on the water. Our day entailed: First, a large ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull (see below), a bus ride across mull to the launching point called Fionnphort, where we got on a smaller boat with about 10 others to see the Isle Staffa. From Staffa we went directly to Iona where we stayed for about two and a half hours (and then we reversed the trip by going back to Mull straight from Iona.

This is our view from the ferry as we went from Oban to Mull. At this point is was still before eight in the morning, and you can see how bright it was at this point. It never changed throughout the day!

Here is Kelli on the smaller boat to Staffa. We had some coffee with us (surprise surprise), and were taking the opportunity to check out the surrounding islands and views (one view was a bit shocking - see below).

On our way back to Oban we were able to find a quiet spot on the ferry and just relax as we cruised through the sea. There were a lot of sail boats out, so it was fun to watch everyone taking advantage of a rare perfect day.

One of the biggest surprises on the trip was a basking shark that was only about 2 yards off of the boat. The captain said it was probably around 14 feet long, and if you look close you can see it open mouth under the water (as well as catch a glimpse of how large it was). It was pretty awesome to see something like that up close.

We'll get more of the actual sites posted soon. We had a blast, if you can't already tell!

Oban

2009-07-18T19:30:00.000+01:00

The old man and the sea

A local bird, hovering by the fish restaurant.

Evening reading by the bay.

And, well...this picture is pretty random. The water WAS there, just not visible in this photo!

If you're ever near Crieff...

2009-07-17T18:58:00.000+01:00

Check it out...its a cool little towne. We stopped
simply to find a toilet, and happend to find a cool coffee shop as well! Crieff was actually the perfect place to get a quick bite to eat on our 4 hour journey to Oban last weekend. More random bits from the trip to follow soon!

Back in Aberdeen

2009-07-04T10:55:00.000+01:00

We're back, both a year older. Today I am 28 and Kyle is 31 tomorrow. We enjoy celebrating our birthdays together, and by celebrate we mean staying in our pajamas all day, and drinking lots of coffee. I must admit, I do miss a good firework show. So, if anyone vidoes a good one, send it along to us please!!

Happy 4th of July to all of you in the USA!

Ahhhhhh!!

2009-06-28T06:06:00.000+01:00

You know it is time to end the travels when every one you see tells you how tired you look, and how crazy you are for embarking on your current adventure. As you can see by the look on Kyle's face above, yes, we are tired, and yes we know we are crazy. However, there have been some great times with friends and family. So we'll just blog about the good stuff, and spare you the craziness of packing and logistical junk.

We, of course, manage to sneak in a few (0r many) coffee breaks. The picture above was taken in San Luis Obispo. I'm sure a few of you can guess the location...

While we were both working, packing and saying good-bye to as many people as we could, we also had to sell Kyle's car. This was a bittersweet moment. Kyle loves his car. We kept it since we moved to Scotland and our brother-in-law was driving it. But now that the family is all moving away, it was best to sell the car. In the end, we are both glad that we won't have to worry about it any longer, and he is excited that a Maxima enthusiast bought the car and will keep it going.

(Kyle speaking) It is not exaggerated to say that these trips wear us out more than anything else we do (we often feel like we need a vacation afterwards), but we do relish at the opportunity to see friends and family (even if not all of them) for a short while as we pack up and relocate our belongings (and on this trip, work most of the time). As much as we love life in Scotland and our friends there who have become such a central part of our life, we both long to be back and maybe more importantly, settled for a change (Lord willing). This is only heightened by seeing all of the little ones we've come to love grow up so much in between our trips.

Father's Day Adventure

2009-06-22T20:15:00.000+01:00

Dad looking out over Kern Valley Kern Canyon

Breakfast American Style

2009-06-15T01:43:00.000+01:00

Cinnamon French toast

Breakfast Burrito

We are always amazed at how massive portions are when we come back from the UK. At no meal is this so evident as breakfast. This could be because our breakfasts in the UK tend to be a bit more simple, as well as smaller, but whatever the case, we wanted to give some updates on our breakfast eating habits when we meet up with people here.

The first two were both very good, and, although large, not absurdly so (Kelli and I shared the top meal). The breakfast which broke all boundaries of healthy eating is what I ordered from a local place and is pictured below.

Sausage and eggs with a "side" of pancakes

Since when is it normal to get a side of pancakes? Not only small ones, but two full sized pancakes!

Coffee from the Fillingstation...endless free refills

Our favorite coffee in the world (except for Kona peaberry) is at the Fillingstation. We've had a good amount of it since we've been back! I also tried eggs benedict for the first time, which I really enjoyed. Fillingstation is always good to try something new because everything they do is so good. Notice the blueberry muffin as well....mmmmm...

Eggs benedict, with a warm blueberry muffin

A new coffee shop

2009-06-12T17:59:00.000+01:00

We know...we're coffee shop junkies. This one was pretty cool though, just thought I'd share!

Good times in Northern California

2009-06-10T18:05:00.000+01:00

Last week, I went up to the Berkeley area for a physio course. It was intense, but pretty awesome. I learned, or tried to learn, way too much information in 4 days. However, it was a joy to be with old friends...

San Franscico off on the horizon... Fun afternoon in Rockridge with Ann and the kids.

Good coffee...

Yummy baked goods...

And some more coffee with Mel at Panera...just like old times.

Teacher man

2009-06-10T13:29:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm two weeks into my class, and I finish lecturing this Friday. Here is me walking to class on my own self-imposed "casual Friday".

Kelli and I have a routine now where we get up at 5:30 am, head off to Starbucks of Panera, and work before I leave to go lecture (she stays to work). We have about a 45 minute to an hour drive to be at the University, so it is just better to do that early around here (rather than sitting in L.A. rush hour).

I'm in classroom 40, in the old elementary school (or it could have been a Junior High). Biola bought the school next door, and, for the time being, have turned them into classrooms and offices. This is the same room I took an Isaiah class in, which is a bit odd to be now teaching in!

My lecture binder seems to grow by the minute. Here I am looking over the table of contents page I made for it. I've developed about 13 lectures, all ranging about 3 hours a piece, which leaves a whole class for their essay mid-terms, which they had on Monday. This week we will be looking over Edwards' piety and his understanding of sanctification (don't you just feel green with envy?). Their final projects are due this Monday, so it will all be over incredibly soon. I can't believe how quickly it has gone. I've really enjoyed it a lot, a surprising amount actually, and feel more and more ready to be doing this full time (if there were only jobs!).

Jacaranda Trees

2009-06-09T17:19:00.000+01:00

I think these are Jacarandas? Uncle Robert (or anyone else), I fully expect you to correct me if I am wrong! Whatever they are called, we love them. Its fun to walk down the streets of Orange and see purple trees!

California Sun

2009-05-25T16:52:00.000+01:00

Kelli's skin matches her dad's white shirt. She has officially taken on the British tone of skin. I was elected to grill some steak and make my famous (famous to me) honey-blackened salmon. It was a beautiful day, which basically means it was a typical Southern California day. Kelli and I are both feeling a bit better...steak always helps.

We've gotten a chance to hang out with both our little nieces, and here is a shot of Penny Jane, who is hilarious. I'm not sure what she is doing here, but there is a good chance she is doing some free-style crawling.

Here is Penny with Abby playing around in our backyard.

We have a little put-put green in the yard that the kids love playing with. Penny seems to be using the flag for some other purpose than I understand. It looks like she is attempting to use the flags as something like ski poles on the green. Golf might want to look into using this as a way to throw a curve in the game. I can just see Tiger out there with two poles trying to hit the ball.

I had to go out there and show them how it is done. The key to golf is the outfit. And being able to wear sweet and awesome outfits is the very reason I have gone into academics.

I think the woman's scarf really makes the outfit.

A hummingbird!

2009-05-24T16:41:00.000+01:00

Do you see him?

An interesting trip...

2009-05-21T12:55:00.000+01:00

Well, Kelli and I made our trip out to California!...and it was interesting. We had to wake up at 4 a.m. to get going, which means 8 p.m. California time (which was a bit depressing). Neither of us felt all that great, both having colds, but kelli was definitely worse off. Our taxi came at 5 a.m. to pick us up, and we were serenaded by three drunk lads singing "Be Our Guest" (which I'm sure the neighbours appreciated).

At the Aberdeen airport we ran into two of our elders from church, one of which was on our plane, which is a bit random. We had coffee with him for a while before we took off. We had a lovely conversation with an Aberdeen judge who had next to us (also a bit random).

Then we got to Heathrow. Heathrow is the perfect example of how problems don't end by throwing money at them. For those of you who have never been to Heathrow (count your blessings), here is what you have to do. You sit in terminal 5 to wait for your flight to appear on the screen (since terminal 5 is basically a mall, I'm convinced that they do this to try and get you to shop). Then, with 30 minutes left until boarding time, they tell you your terminal.

At this point, we get up and walk for about 10 minutes, go down escalators two levels underground, get a train to take us to where the "B" gates are, and then walk another 5 minutes to our gate. We check in, and walk down one of the longest jet-ways I've ever seen. At the end, when we're expecting to get on the plane, they send us down more stairs, until we've on the actual tarmack, walking under a plane in the rain (which of course makes perfect sense). Then they board us on a standing-only bus like cattle, and take us on some intra-Heathrow highway system until we get to our plane. The biggest surprise was when we started to leave - our plane was only half full (if that). You can see from the picture below that we were the only one's in our entire row. Kelli stretched out across the middle seats for about 2 hours during the flight. I'm convinced the rest of the passangers are still on a bus somewhere in Heathrow.

If you look really close, you can see another plane flying along with us as we made our descent into LAX - notice the smog - awesome.

Well, we landed safe, and the trip went over without flaw. Kelli and I are both still trying to get over our cold. I'm hoping and praying that I'm 100% before my class starts. We head up to see Kelli's family today which will be fun (but hot I imagine). It was 86 degrees here yesterday, which is about 30 degrees hotter than my body is used to. To add to the confusion I had mexican food which was excellent...mmmmm...burrito.

Ellon

2009-05-18T22:11:00.000+01:00

Part of my job entails visitng students on their clinical placements. Today, I headed slightly north of Aberdeen, to a town called Ellon.
Quite a peaceful little town...

Lovely countryside en route

Sheep and Highland Cattle

And, of course, there's a massive ruined castle behind the health centre!

Rain with a vengeance

2009-05-15T19:43:00.001+01:00

This week started out lovely in Aberdeen. On my walk to work one morning I saw purple flowers in the sunshine.

Another day there was a nice clear skyline off the sea...people kyaking out the mouth of the River Don

Today I went to Glasgow, and experienced a slightly cloudy and cooler walk in the Kelvingrove park...

Rain fell the entire train ride back, and then my walk from the train station to our flat was a humorous disaster! I think this is the hardest rainfall I have ever experienced! My tibias were aching because my jeans were soaked, and the wind off the north sea combined with the continuous horizontal projection of the rain upon my legs just chilled my bones! At one point I found myself hiking against the wind up a hill, and my legs literally stalled in the air because the wind was holding them back. It was just funny...I actually yelled at the wind a few times!

This picture just does't capture it...but at least you can see the defeat on my face! My upper body actually stayed dry, and my feet were dry until I was about 100 yards away from home. At that point I think the gortex in my shoes just gave up!

mobilise

2009-05-12T04:00:00.000+01:00

We have neglected to share with you a major part of our life this year. Most Thursdays, any where from 4-14 university students have invaded our flat. You probably remember the Thanksgiving feast we shared with them in November. I remember our first meeting with them in October...they would shyly enter our flat and wait until we ushered them into the living room to take a seat. Now they come in laughing, quickly kick off their shoes and then run to the sofa to be the first to get a seat (the floor gets quite uncomfortable after an hour or so)! They even squeeze onto our loveseat (see below).

The students have been extremely polite and even tolerated a few of my baking experiments! There is always lots of tea, a little bit of juice, and we've even started going through two pots of coffee.

Tim (pictured below on the right) showed me up one week by bringing a two-tiered strawberry creme cake...it was amazing!!

Here are the Edinburgh Davids...

Its been a joy to open our home to these students. We've loved hearing them process university life, alongside opening God's word and praying for His will for our lives. We will miss them this summer...

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T15:04:00.000+01:00

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Kelli and I were looking through out pictures today and came across one of me with her mom and one of her with my mom, so we decided to post these, because it is Mother-in-Law's Day just as much as Mother's Day!!!

We hope you guys have fun without us and we'll see you soon!!!!

Cherry Blossoms!

2009-05-09T12:57:00.000+01:00

Elgin

St Andrews

Aberdeen

Elgin Cathedral...finally!

2009-05-05T16:37:00.000+01:00

Third time is the charm indeed. The first two times I tried to go to Elgin cathedral it has been closed...during opening hours. As a member of Historic Scotland, I was not impressed. But this time, it was not only open, but it was a beautiful day.

This cathedral was built in the 14th century, and, as you can tell, fell into ruin some time later after the Reformation (due, no doubt, to overzealous reformed preaching). This first pic is from "inside" the cathedral in the nave looking at the front. These two towers would have had large spires on top of them, and you can still climb to the top of the tower on the right (notice picture from above below).

I love trying to recreate the cathedral layouts while you are walking through. You can see the column foundations, the arches, some of the roofline, and even the place for the stainglass. Pretty impressive for a ruin.

This side area was still intact, and you can see how the ceiling would have looked in the side aisles and lower-level covered areas.

The picture below shows another section with the ceiling remaining. This was the aisle running alongside the high altar. There were some impressive tombs in the wall and floor that have been preserved well.

This picture is from the top of the tower pictured earlier. I might have been tired when I got to the top (these people loved their spiral-staircases). You can see Mel, Mark and myself walking down one of the side aisles coming towards the tower (Kelli ran up first). The room on the left is the covered room shown before, and you can see the back end of the cathedral here. It looks like it would have been slightly smaller than St. Andrews, but clearly no less impressive.

Here is a picture of me with the bad guy from Star Wars.

Visitors!

2009-05-02T00:12:00.000+01:00

Random churches... Random harbors...

And crazy castles...good times!

Random run

2009-04-27T19:07:00.000+01:00

I was feeling inspired on Saturday to run in the sand; however I quickly realized my legs did not think that was such a great idea.
I eventually found a path of more solid ground, but then I found myself on a fairway.

Right about here is where I rolled my right ankle (not too bad, nothing like Kyle's in January!)

Although my ankle was feeling OK at this point, I decided to just walk home and enjoy the scenery.

Spring in the Deen

2009-04-25T23:15:00.000+01:00

These pictures are from the River Don/Seaton Park area. The colors around the city are just beautiful these days...

BBQ!

2009-04-25T08:47:00.000+01:00

We had a glorious day last week with our friends the Greens. I met Kelli at their place for an extended lunch (they live about a block from the university), and we had a BBQ! This is only our second BBQ since we've had in Scotland, and were incredibly excited that it was one of the most beautiful days thus far. We were able to eat outside, which doesn't happen all that often, so it was a great break from the office and a good time to hang out and talk.

Here is a pic of their oldest, Ethan, who was checking out the neighbor's dog. The dog literally sat there for about 15 minutes while Chris cooked, raising his head to sniff the air every now and again.

We weren't short on meat. I can't tell you the last time I had steak on a grill. MMMMM....steak. There is just something about BBQ'd meat isn't there? We even had Doritos which is an added treat since Kelli never buys me any.

It is incredible how hard it can be to connect with people now that Kelli and I get up in the morning and go off in two different directions. She had the day off because of one of Scotland's many gratuitous bank holidays, and I am always looking for an excuse not to work! The Greens are from Bakersfield where Kelli is from, and where a lot of BBQ'ing is done year round, so it was fun to get together with them as a Bakersfield Embassy in Scotland. Now if only we had Dewar's...

Castle Fraser

2009-04-11T20:48:00.000+01:00

Today was a perfect day for a castle adventure. Lots of sunshine and daffodils.

Great tea and coffee...however, Kyle would have preferred a mug!

Always fun to explore...

Lots of laughs with good company.

Glasgow Bound!

2009-03-27T14:39:00.000Z

We are off for a weekend in Glasgow. We might see a castle or two, possibly visit a random book shop, and we'll of course be visiting some coffee shops!

The daffodils are here!!

2009-03-22T22:17:00.000Z

So fun to see these pop up all over town!

Things are a changing

2009-03-08T21:23:00.000Z

Well, Kelli and I have some exciting news...we're preg...just kidding. Seriously though, our life is going to be changing rather drastically because Kelli is now officially a lecturer at Robert Gordon University. We are both really excited and I'm incredibly proud of her as you can imagine (but deep down think she is trying to one-up me at every level - she got her doctorate first and now a university lecture position first...I see how it is). We haven't found out a lot about the position yet, in terms of specifics, but hopefully on Monday all of that will be sorted out.

For those of you who knew about the interview process, you might be surprised how quickly we found out. Kelli interviewed on Friday at 2:15 in the afternoon and was called with the position around 7 that night. It was a bit of a whirlwind, considering we knew of the position in November, and had expected to wait a couple of weeks before we heard. Kelli, on a sidenote, had to give a powerpoint presentation and in the middle of it threw their wireless mouse on the floor. That evidently helped her stand out!

Anyway, I knew Kelli wouldn't write about it so I thought I would let everyone know. We are certainly excited for what this could mean for her future career options, as well as the opportunity for her to teach and train students. Now it seems that we have an inter-apartment rivalry between the two universities in Aberdeen - Go U of A!