2 posts in less than a week! I'm getting better at this =)

Last Friday there was an opening ceremony for the school of arts. (That's why I was hearing bagpipes from my window!) I went to it not really expecting it to be as formal and ceremonial as it was, which for an American was actually quite fascinating since we don't really have ceremonies at that level. There were several speaks, and the last speaker ended by reading this passage as motivation for us as we begin our studies.

You clan of Conn, remember this:
Strengthen from the eye of the storm.
Be at them, be animals,
Be alphas, be Argus-eyed,
Be belters, be brandishers,
Be bonny, be batterers,
Be cool heads, be caterans,
Be clashers, be conquerors,
Be doers, be dangerous,
Be dashing, be diligent,
Be eager, be excellent,
Be eagles, be elegant,
Be foxy, be ferrety,
Be fervid, be furious,
Be grimmer, be gralloching,
Be grinders, be gallopers,
Be hardmen, be hurriers,
Be hell-bent, be harriers,
Be itching, be irritants,
Be impish, be infinite,
Be lucky, be limitless,
Be lashers, be loftiest,
Be manly, be murderous,
Be martial, be militant,
Be noxious, be noisiest,
Be knightly, be niftiest,
Be on guard, be orderly,
Be off now, be obdurate,
Be prancing, be panic-free,
Be princely, be passionate,
Be rampant, be renderers,
Be regal, be roaring boys,
Be surefire, be Somerleds,
Be surgers, be sunderers,
Be towering, be tactical,
Be tip-top, be targetters,
Be urgent, be up for it,
In vying be vigorous,
In ending all enemies.
Today is for triumphing,
You hardy great hunting dogs,
You big-boned braw battle boys,
You lightfoot spry lionhearts,
You wall of wild warriors,
You veterans of victories,
You heroes in your hundreds here,
You Clan of Conn, remember this:
Strength from the eye of the storm.
-Robert Crawford

I doubt I'll have quite as much gusto as he is trying to inspire with his words (especially since it's ment for battle), but here's hoping I have a fraction of it! Meet and greet today and classes start tomorrow!

St. Andrews

Well, just a quick update for all who are interested. I've been in Scotland almost a week now, and I am really enjoying myself! Right now we are in the middle of freshers week, which is basically orientation for all the new students here. I've gone on some tours of the town and gotten some yummy food, but other than that I haven't participated much because it is geared more towards freshman, not post graduates.

So instead, I am spending my time walking around town, buying some essentials (like an umbrella!) and just relaxing. I walked along the pier today, and the sea view here is gorgeous!! I can't get enough of it =) So here is a photo montage I took today. Cheers!

3 weeks!

So I only have 3 weeks til I go off to Scotland. It doesn't seem real yet, but I am sure it will sink in soon once I start panicking with all I have left to do at the last minute. I am more than likely not going to be able to come home at Christmas because finances will be tight. (I didn't get any of the scholarships I applied for, but student loans and the money I've made doing odd jobs for you all have allowed me to find a way to make it work. Thank you!!)

Since it will be an entire year without seeing your lovely faces, it brings me to my main reason for posting: I WANT YOU TO GET SKYPE!!

It is awesome, free and even though there will be an ocean between us, I will still be able to see you (if you have a webcam, if not, hearing your voices is the next best thing.)

My skype address is on my facebook info page, so join and then add me as a friend =)

this image is proof of how awesome skype is.

This is me and my friend Lesmi, who lives in Spain, video chatting.

You can see how excited this make me, and Lesmi taking a photo of me.

haha! =)

Below is a link to the website. Now you have no excuses, so join!

<<<< SKYPE! >>>>

Hello again

I feel like a broken record here; blogging is just not meant for me. But it is nice to fill you in on what's going on in my life (probably will be even more handy while I am in Scotland), so I will keep at it.

Well I will update you on my scholarship fund. I haven't been good at keeping an exact total, but it is somewhere in the $800-850 range. Not bad! I am working on one final scholarship application as well, so (fingers crossed) I will get some money there.

One of my newer donations to the fund came from my good friend Courtney! I was very happy to paint her the picture below for her soon-to-be new apartment. Hopefully her house hunting is going well, but I will be sad to see her go off to Atlanta soon.



Not much else is going on here. I went to a conference for KMHA (Kentucky Museum and Heritage Association) this week which was a really good experience, and I LOVED Maysville and Augusta. They have done a great job of keeping their historic downtowns preserved. I am also heading off again soon, this time to Florida! One of my roommates from college is getting married. I found a really great deal with Southwest, so I will be heading down there next week. I will be celebrating my birthday on her wedding day (which is fine with me, because I don't really want the attention because I am starting to feel OLD!)

Well, if anyone is wanting a birthday wish list, I have a short list of ideas:
-money
-Eliza Doolittle's CD
-Target gift card
-new ear buds for my iPod

If you don't feel like shopping, money will be more than acceptable. I will need to buy a lot of things once I get to Scotland.  Also, along with your gift, if you would want to add on some old books, magazines, movies, cds or video games you don't want anymore, I would be happy to take them off your hands and exchange them at Half Price Books for some extra cash. (Just a little extra idea for de-cluttering for you and some extra cash for me)

Well, I wouldn't lie, I probably won't update this for a while. But again, if anyone wants to ask me for a painting, tutoring in Spanish, dog sitting or baby sitting, just let me know! And thanks Aunt Kathlene for asking me to dog sit. Hopefully Sassy is back to her normal happy self now that her family is home!

Updates

So, it's been a while, but here are some updates since my last post.

I have studied French 6 times...not doing so good with this resolution!

I have exercised 12 times... not great either!

I have read 2 books, The Secret Garden & Reading Lolita in Tehran, and am almost finished with my 3rd book, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid-VERY funny!

And I have eaten 5 servings of fruits and veggies 43 days.

I think I should just stop making resolutions because I am not good at keeping them (as is evident from the info above!)

Ok, onto my grad school info.

I have applied for housing, but I have not heard back yet.

I have applied for 4 scholarships, but I have not heard back from any of them.

-BUT-

I have heard back from you all! My sister has had me babysit a few times, my brother has had me coming over to his house to clean once a week, I have done a painting for my cousin (I have a picture of the painting below) and have a few more people interested in having me paint something for them, and I have taken some of my, my parents & my brother's old books, magazines, movies and cds we no longer want to Half Price Books. You all have turned me into a nanny, a maid, a painter and a recycler and with your help I have earned about $440!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! It will definitely be a big help =)

And again, if anyone is interested in having me put together a scrapbook for you, painting a picture, tutoring Spanish, cleaning for you, dog sitting, or pretty much anything else you could think of, or if you want to give me any old books, magazines, cds or dvds you no longer want, I will be more than willing to do that for you! Thanks again for your help and I will keep you updated on how much money you all contribute to my college fund and how much scholarship I receive. (and I will try to do better with my resolutions =P)