This blog has gone through many changes. It started out as me trying to promote some stuff I was selling on Etsy, switched to updates on my new years resolutions. I also used it to trying to earn some extra money for grad school, and now it is to update people back home about what is going on with me in Scotland.
I would like to go back to using it for resolutions. I didn't keep up with my resolutions once June or July came because I was too busy getting ready for Scotland. Abandoning resolutions about half way through the year for me is pretty common, but I will still make resolutions for this year. Here is what I am going to try to do:
Be more organized
Manage my time better
Exercise 3 times a week
Read the Bible more
Randy Pausch's lecture on time management is helping me out with number 2! I am trying to be more organized with my to do list. (The video below is worth watching but is 75 minutes long, so wait til you have a large block of free time to watch it.) Hope everyone has a great New Years Eve!
I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas! I'll miss being with family. This carol has been sticking out to me this year.
"I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams."
(But don't worry, I won't let the fact that I'm not home and have no presents ruin my day! I still have a reason to celebrate because it was the day God became man and started his journey to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins so we can all have eternal life. When you know the true meaning of Christmas, nothing can keep you from celebrating!)
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and that Santa brings you lots of fun stuff =)
i woke up early this morning to go see the sunrise over the ocean! it was really lovely! i picked today because it isn't typical december weather (roughly 50 degrees). here are some of my favourite pictures i took =)
Christmas is so close! Last weekend I went to the Christmas Ball which was very fun! Although my tooth cracked there...and it already had a filling =/ I have been to the dentist and am going to have to go in Thursday to have 2 wisdom teeth filled, and if they are really bad, I am going to have to have my wisdom teeth taken out. I'm hoping the latter can be avoided, but I'm not sure that is the case.
Tomorrow my class is having a Christmas party and there will be a white elephant, which should be fun =) But after this week is over, many people will be heading home for the holidays, and sadly, I am not one of them. I am going to miss being home for Christmas, but I'll try to make the best of it. I'll be celebrating with 2 girls from my course. Although it won't be the same as being home, we will have a full Christmas meal and watch tons of Christmas movies, so I'm sure we will have fun. =)
I am also working on this assignment (avoiding doing it is why I'm updating this blog). It is like pulling teeth! Yikes! I hope to have it done tomorrow so I can get it edited before turning it in. While working on it, I've been listening to a lot of Christmas music to keep it a bit more cheerful. Here are some of my new favourites!!
She & Him- Christmas Waltz
Michael Buble- Christmas
and we sang this one at Church. I had never heard it before, but I really liked it =)
It's called "See Him Lying on a Bed of Straw."
Hope everyone is having fun getting ready for Christmas! I'll be missing everyone back home!
I can't believe I am almost done with my first semester here! Time goes
by too fast. Quite a lot has gone on since I've last posted.
There was raisin weekend, which I still don't totally understand. But
basically you get academic parents and they make you a meal, through
parties, make you do all sorts of crazy stuff, and then on Monday they
dress you up in costume and take you to the quad to participate in a
foam fight! I didn't have parents, which probably worked out for the
best since I had an assignment to get done, but I did step out to see
the foam fight. This was definitely my favourite out of the costumes I
saw =)
There was Thanksgiving which was very fun =) Hopefully people enjoyed celebrating one of my favourite holidays for the first time!
Then there were lots of celebrations going on for St. Andrews Day! I got to go to the castle in town for free. And there were 2 ceilidhs! Here is a video to give you an idea of what the dances are like!
One ceilidh was free in town after they turned on the Christmas lights,
and the other one was on St Andrews Day for post grads and was a bit
more formal.
And finally, one of the perks of living in a town where royalty once lived =) Hope everyone is having fun getting ready for Christmas!!
I love Skype! Over an hour, I was able to talk to my 2 sisters, my sister-in-law, my parents, 5 cousins, see my aunt and uncle, 3 nieces, my nephew, and 4 of my little cousins! I don't really understand technology, but I think it is incredible!! haha =)
Here are some snap shots I took of my family through Skype =) It was so good to see so many people I love! <3
Sadly, I don't have one of Sarah, which is why everyone was gathered together. Hope you all had fun at the baby shower!! Miss you!
I got to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day for the first time yesterday!! It was really exciting =)
Basically (for all my friends and fam back home that are looking at this), Guy Fawkes planned to blow up the Parliament building in London because he didn't like that Catholicism was no longer the official religion. He failed, was tried and sentenced to death. The Brits celebrate this every year by having big bonfires, sometimes throwing a scarecrow version of Guy Fawkes on top to burn (I didn't see this bit), and having firework shows. Here's a link if you want to know more about the holiday.
I had a lot of fun going to a park in Dundee with some people from my course. The fireworks were really impressive! They lasted nearly 30 minutes! I've uploaded a short video of the fireworks below and a picture of us at the park. Hope everyone had a good weekend!
In case all you people back in the USA were wondering what happened to Johnny Robinson from the X-Factor (as I sure you are =) haha!), he was booted tonight. There are 7 acts left. I kind of started to like watching him sing. Here are his last 4 performances. The first one is definitely the most entertaining!
I've been out of school too long! I can't focus for long periods of time anymore! So I'll take a blog break. Since lists are an easy way to keep you updated and since my brain doesn't seem to want to work, I'm going to stick with the trend. Here are 5 short updates with videos attached- I had to make it a little bit more interesting =)
(Sorry the quality of some of the videos isn't so good.)
1. This is how I feel about my radiator. It only works if it is on full blast, so I don't have it on very often. It also makes weird noises (even when it's not turned on.)
2. I wish I had trained my dogs to do this! I would have a lot more money today if I had ;-P
3. This guy from the X-Factor is a bit disturbing! He has made it to the top 11 out of the contestants too! Apparently he is the "joke" contestant.
4. Another commercial I find amusing! (I can't find it in one video, so I've got it in 2 parts below.)
I left for Scotland one month ago! I can't believe I have been here that long. It seems shorter! This year is going to go by fast!!
There really isn't too much else to report on. I guess I will do another list of some highlights of the week.
1. Twice this week, people misheard me when I told them I am from Kentucky. Instead, they thought I said I was from Turkey and Belgium!
2. I got a nice 128 pound refund from my uni! Not sure what for, but I used some of that money to buy some boots =)
3. For some reason, when the fire alarm went off at 6.30 in the morning yesterday my brain told my hand to pick up my hair brush and take it with me as I exited the building... obviously I can't think of what would be most valuable to grab that early in the morning!
4. I am going to a tea party to celebrate St. Helwig's day this weekend. Pretty sure this will be the only time I celebrate St. Helwig's day!
5. These are the cookies I am going to attempt to make to take to the party! Nutella gooey butter cookies!! I'll let you know how they turn out, because they look super tasty!
Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm planning on getting the rest of my research done, hopefully starting a draft for my essay and doing some new research on model boats and boat signs!
