Guess what? We moved to Scotland!

If you happen to miss the past 6 months of me blasting the news over every social media outlet, we moved to Scotland.

Say What? SHOCK!

Why'd you do that?

How long will you be there?

Are you going to have babies?

Are you okay with moving to the U.K.?

Answers:

1. Raymond got accepted into the University of St. Andrews.

2. We are not sure how long we will be here. The MLitt program he's in right now is only a year long course, however he plans to go straight into his PhD. 3-4 yrs.

3. Probly- someday, Lord willing

4. It was totally my idea.

Fast forward 6 months and 3 weeks:

We now live in St. Andrews, well not technically IN St. Andrews. We dwell in a small town 4 miles outside of St. Andrews called Guardbridge. We get back and forth on a motorbike, much to my parents distress, that only goes around 50 mph with the wind at our back. It's great fun.

A few things that I didn't know about Scotland and the U.K. in general:

1. There are so many freakin' spiders. I mean, everywhere. My massive phobia is slowly turning into an annoyance. This thrills Raymond because now I don't freak him out every time I see one. Instead of screaming and running away calling for Raymond to dispose of the spider, I can do it myself! (If the spider is larger than my thumb nail all bets are off. The screaming and running will continue)

2. The refrigerators are TINY compared to the standard U.S. This just means buying less food and making more trips to the store. This is not such a bad thing because we have to carry all our food on the motorbike. We realized this after buying a lot of food at the grocery store and trying to shove it all into the saddle bags. Picture me carrying big bags of food on each arm while having some stuff shoved between us on the bike. Let's just say we got some stares on the way home.

3. They almost never use their dyers, which are also tiny. Everyone hangs their clothes out on the line to dry. I love it. The clothes smell sooo good after they are dry and I feel like Suzy homemaker, which doesn't happen very often.

4. If you say pants they think you are talking about your underwear. Yes this is true. I had an entire conversation with my boss about my work pants. He was very embarrassed and I was clueless. Now I know. I'm glad he still hired me.


5. Showers: The showers here only have this tiny retractable half wall thing. Needless to say water goes everywhere. I miss my shower curtain.


This list could go on for a while so I'll stop there. 






Scotland is BEAUTIFUL

I've lived here for three weeks and I still have to pinch myself. Raymond and I keep saying to each other, "We actually live here!" Walking around town with all this old architecture, Cathedral/Castle ruins and cute little store fronts is like living in a fairy tale. One of my first days here Raymond took me to some abbey ruins. It was in the middle of no where and absolutely beautiful. (picture above) I saw this mound of grass with a doorway and it reminded me of a hobbit house. Raymond snapped this picture when I was running to investigate. I did not find Bilbo but I'm convinced he was around there somewhere.


We have had a week of perfect weather. Sunny high 60's low 70's with a slight breeze that brings in that fresh sea air. It was beautiful. Everyone was saying this is not normal and do not get use to this weather. Well reality has set in and yesterday was cold, windy and rainy. Looks like it's nothing but cold from here on out folks but don't worry layers are my friends and I will survive this. 


We have already made some great friends in and out of St. Mary's divinity school. There are great people here and we are excited about the our new friendships. Especially with Garrick and Andrea Allen hailing from Seattle.


We have found and amazing church that we love called Trinity. The church is beautiful and is where John Knox preached and caused the people to tear down the cathedral. History is everywhere, which makes this history major a very happy girl. 


I miss my Family, Friends and Foxy.

(my last picture I took with Foxy the night before I left)


Look now you are ALL caught up!