A Disney Dream Realized

As a little girl I sang a lot of Disney. Okay, you got me there, as a grown woman I sing a lot of Disney... don't judge

 One of my favourite (British spelling, why not add a vowel when you live here?) Disney movies was (is) Beauty and the Beast. There is a song that's been stuck in my head. Belle (reprise). She's singing in an open beautiful field dreaming of a life full of adventure. The lyrics are:

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere 

 I want it more than I can tell

 And for once it might be grand

 To have someone understand

 I want so much more than they've got planned"

Let's break this down.

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, 

I want it more than I can tell."

I've been singing these lines for the past 20 years and I just realized, it has come true. I've got plenty of adventure in the great wide somewhere. Living in Scotland has opened up huge opportunities to travel and dive head first into adventure. In the past year I've been on so many amazing trips with the most amazing man. I don't see my future changing anytime soon. This brings me to the next part of the song:

And for once it might be grand
To have someone understand

 I want so much more than they've got planned"

I'm married to someone who completely understands me. He thinks I'm nutzo a lot of the time, but he knows how my brain works and I love him for it. Yes Belle, it is Grand!

I write this to say, I am so blessed and thank God daily for my amazingly charmed existence.

Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere

~Later Days

Northern Ireland

The travel bug bit us again, so we hoped on a jet plane (budget airline of course) and headed to Northern Ireland. Our flight was really early in the morning on Friday so we had to spend the night in Edinburgh the night before. Thursday after work we hopped on a bus and headed to Edinburgh. Immediately Raymond got car sick and almost lost his cookies several times on the hour and half ride to the big city. Here is a picture that documents Raymond’s pathetic face throughout the trip. I tried my best to help him but to no avail.

We finally got to Edinburgh and Raymond almost kissed the ground as we departed from the dreadful bus. We made our way to the hostel got situated and then headed out for pint before hitting the hay.

One Sick Puppy

 

It was a beautiful 45 minute plane ride to Belfast as the sun came up over the clouds. 

The coastal route was beautiful on our way to the top of Northern Ireland. We went straight to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. It was really dramatic weather so we were excited about crossing the rope bridge to the island. When we got across the "scarry" (not as scary as we were made to believe. We are total bad asses)  the island was super slippery.

True to form, I slipped and fell into the muddy hill. Okay, okay maybe I'm not a bad ass. I was walking around looking like I sharted myself. People started dropping left and right, which made me feel a little bit better.

We decided that we needed to spend some time out of the cold and rain. We went on a tour of the oldest licensed whisky distillery in the world, Bushmills Whisky Distillery. As soon as we walked in the door we were given a Hot Toddy which warmed our child bones! YUM!

The next day we went to see the famous Giant’s Causeway.
I’ve been bugging Raymond about taking me for the past year! We weren’t too keen on paying the parking and visitor centre fee so we drove around until we I spotted a parking space. It wasn't too far from the causeway and hopped a few fences to avoid said visitor centre. (bad ass status reinstated???)

We did a lot of hiking and were constantly in awe of amazing scenery that surrounded us. The weather was perfect.












 The wind was kicking up some huge surf!









From there we drove to Muff, Ireland where Raymond's relatives are from. We had a good inappropriate laugh at the name of the town and then we saw this restaurant...

The Sqealin' Pig MUFF

Is this real life????

After Muff (snicker) we went to Derry and learned all about the riots. There is still a separation between Irish and English in Derry. It's crazy to see.

The next day we drove to Belfast and went to the Titanic museum. It was really really amazing. I would highly recommend going. After the museum we went to the Christmas Festival and got some mulled wine. Yummmmm

The next day we left Belfast to explore before driving to the airport that night. We found a cool Abbey that's got nothin on the Scottish border Abbys. We also stumbled upon St Patrick's grave. This was really cool to see and the Cathedral that was attached to the grave yard was quite impressive. From there we found a really cool Museum, Ruined Castle, and the oldest Castle that is still used as a private residence in Ireland. The oldest part of the castle was built in the 11 hundreds. It was simply amazing.

Trip side note:

I found two cute kitties along the way! One at the whisky distillery and one at St Patrick's grave, see below:

Raymond said they were gross but I loved them! I'm starved for animal attention.


Later Days

1 Year + Across the Pond

It's been over a year?  WHAT? I feel as though we've been living here much longer than a year!

At this point I’m working as a Conference and Events Coordinator for the Principles Office, working 1-2 shifts a week at the Sports Centre (which is a complete answer to prayer)! Raymond has started work on his PhD in New Testament with N.T. Wright as his supervisor. I am so very proud of how well his is doing!

We love our church, Trinity, and I’m now singing about ever 3^rd Sunday there. 

We have amazing friends and live in an amazing community surrounded by believers who selflessly help each other. It's really amazing to watch and I'm learning so much from the people around me.

Travels:

Italy, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Scotland and sooo much more to come, hopefully! 

Raymond and I are starting to the get the travel itch again! Soooooo.....

We are planning a trip to Belfast and Giant’s Causeway in the middle of November! Just for a long weekend but it will be lovely to get away.

 For Christmas this year we are traveling to California to spend time with Raymond’s side of the family! We are very excited and can’t wait to be warm!

I have grown so much in the past year and learned so much about myself and have grown closer than ever to Raymond. My relationship with Christ is only strengthening as I learn to trust Him.

Life is an Adventure and we are thriving.

If you have any questions post them in the comments or e-mail me.

Naked Calendar Update: 

I was at work the other night on break. I was sitting upstairs eating my tea (dinner) and I heard laughing, I looked out the window and saw the badminton club in their birthday suits. That's right NAKED as can be and I had the birds eye view! I really wish someone would warn me about these things!

You Do WHAT with a Bidet??

There are two things about our little mid-level bathroom that totally puzzle me.

I'll start with the one that annoys me and end with the one that slightly frightens me.

The freakin' shower. We have this retractable half wall thing that doesn't protect the water from going EVERYWHERE. There is no way to take a shower and clean every body part without getting water all over the floor.

Hi European bathrooms, 

It's called a shower curtain...

sincerely, 

Gross wet sock feet

I know what you are thinking. Really Mary Blake? The bidet?

When we moved into our lovely home the first thing I noticed about our mid-level bathroom was the bidet. What in the WORLD am I going to do with that?

When my twin, Laura, came to come visit and we decided to watch an animated short showing how to use a bidet. The film was slightly horrifying, and I decided then and there the bidet would never be used for what it was made for.  The bidet has been used the following ways:

• Playing with the tiny spider that lived in the bidet

Now when I say "playing" I mean turning on the water and watching him run away from the oncoming tsunami. Unfortunately, one day he was no longer with us. He might have taken out his revenge on me by crawling into my mouth on a suicide mission. No one will ever know.

• Washing my clothes that are hand wash only

 This is the more practical use I get out of the bidet.

Until next time,

Later days


MB

Whirlwind Roadtrip

 When we found out Raymond was going to be going to a conference in Amsterdam we knew an adventure must take place. When we saw how cheap the tickets were on the awesome low budget airlines plus the added bonus of our tax return we were all systems GO!

When you are married to a PhD student you must pinch your pennies but we know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the world. My montra has been "It's never going to be cheaper to travel than right now".

Our thirst for Adventure has yet to be quenched. soooo Wheels up! We were off. I met Raymond in Amsterdam after the ISBL conference had finished. As soon as I stepped into the Amsterdam airport I had the weirdest experience. Now, I've always considered myself a pretty tall girl 5'8 and have always be the blondest person around. Both of these things were totally flipped up-side-down in Holland. I was a complete shrimp compared the others. One thing I'm really jealous about is most have blonde hair yet they TAN. Everyone was getting back from Holiday and I've never seen tans like that on naturally blonde people. I need to ask for forgiveness for coveting their skin pigmentation.

 Raymond met me at the airport and we went and ate dinner.

Amsterdam Central Square

Here is a picture of us walking back form dinner. (*Gasp* What is that on your rib cage? Sharpie I hope! No... alas Mary Blake has received the devil's ink. haha JK Not devil's INK! Yes Yes I got a tattoo with my twinny about a year ago. (SORRY DAD) Drawn by a very talented Husband of mine. PS it's a compass)

BACK to the Trip

We slept in a Christian Hostel and got up super early the next morning, rented the car and were off to Brugge, Belgium  Below is a map of our road travels over a 4 day period.

Map of our Route

Brugge was our favorite stop of the trip. It was so beautiful with the old architecture as well as amazing musicians performing on the streets and amazing markets all over the town. That is one place we really want to go back and spend more time exploring. The waffles were amazing

From Brugge we drove to Brussels. Brussels was a cool town as well we went to dinner and met some really cool Brits. We went back to their place a few blocks from our hotel and watched the Olympic Opening ceremony. It was a really cool experience and they were so nice.  India was 19 and had downs syndrome. She told me she had 4 ex husbands who were competing in the Olympic games and pretty much pointed at any good-looking guy that popped on the screen. She was hysterical, we had a blast together. I love meeting people all over the World!

Our hotel in Brussels had a Japanese themed room. It was really cool and different. We explored Brussels and then were back on the road to the Ardennes. For those of you who don't know a lot about WWII the Ardennes is where the Battle of the Bulge took place.

The town where we stayed, Le Roche-en-Ardennes, was decimated in the war. There were US tanks everywhere as memorials symbolizing their gratitude for liberating them from the Germans. We went hiking after settling in and got caught in a thunderstorm on our last mile back into town. It was so amazing hearing the thunder and feeling the refreshing rain. I just love a good thunderstorm. (I haven't heard thunder in Scotland yet)

One town where this was certainly true was Bastogne, Belgium. This is the town that was fetured in the show Band of Brothers.  Read the history of Bastogne, It's really amazing. We went to the US memorial there and it was moving.

Vianden Castle

From Bastogne we drove to Vianden, Luxembourg to see the Castle. There just happened to be a medieval festival going on when we arrived. WHAT LUCK! We jumped back in time with everyone else and had an amazing time watching sword fighting, jesters, and there were even birds of prey there ready for the hunt!

From Vianden we drove to Luxembourg City for the night. It was a beautiful town that reminded me a lot of Charlotte. BANKING TOWN.

On our last day we drove from Luxembour to Cologne, Germany to see the HUGE Cathedral. One of the largest in the world.

  

 From Cologne we drove back to Amsterdam airport where I quickly fell asleep in the airport "Park". They had the most comfy bean bag bed things. The bird sounds and duck noises put me straight out! Raymond couldn't resist the urge and fell asleep as well. I set my watch alarm and we got to the gate in plenty of time for take off. 

All in all an amazing Adventure. 

Until next time, Later days

MB

Raymond Is Rambo!

Happy July!!!!!!

This post is about how Raymond is completely Rambo and I am Rambo-ette.

I love to Groupon. LOVE Groupon! When I saw a Groupon come through for a Paintball and Tank ride adventure I KNEW Raymond would LOVE this. I bought it in time for his 30th birthday. I sent around a message to all our friends and almost everyone was on bored!

Fast forward to June 30th and we were all suited up (in camo jump suits) ready for WAR! Ok maybe  I'm being dramatic, but we were ready to play!

We played a lot of different games against each other. The first two games were capture the flag. The first game Raymond had pretty much killed 4 of the 5 people in our team. Including me! In my defense my goggles had fogged up and my gun was jammed.

The teams were changed up for the next few games because our team was destroyed the first two rounds within 1 minute, again gun jammed and goggles fogged. Plus my lovely Husband aka Rambo was on the other team. We didn't stand a chance.

Raymond was switched to our team! Dynamic duo, together again! I'm especially glad he was switched to my team because Raymond kept "accidentally" shooting me in the head. This is also why I couldn't see. "Paint in eyes" 


So here I am, fogged up and paint smeared goggles but my gun was unjammed. I couldn't see a dang thing. What did I do you ask? Just start shooting at anything that moved or resembled a human? YEP that's what I did. I ended up shooting a dummy for most of the game and then shot someone who was already out, whoops. Also, during this game I was smiling and was hit right in the face mask, I got paint in my mouth! YUCK! 


No matter what game we were playing, capture the flag, save/capture the prisoner, get the gas cans to your base, or 3 time elimination, Raymond was the star of the show. I didn't do too bad myself, I knelt down in mud, crawled on the ground and dove over a tire wall. My aim got considerable better after acquiring a new mask as well! Vision problem SOLVED. I suppose the tomboy in me came charging forward. I got in touch with the young me who hated to brush her hair and only wanted to play with Army men and Ninja Turtles. TURTLE POWER!

Back to paintball:

Come to find out, Raymond played paintball constantly growing up and worked at a paintball place when he was younger. We had so much fun and loved spending the day outside and running around! It didn't hurt all that much and we had a total blast!

To end the day we got to ride in a tank!

Great day!

A New Morehouse! Update on our lives.

We are so excited to welcome Finn Conner Morehouse to the world. Teddy (Raymond's Brother) and Jaylyn (Sister-in-law) welcomed their 8lb 2oz bundle of joy into the world and he's happy and healthy!

We can't wait to meet him in August when we will all meet in NY to celebrate Brigham's (nephew #1) 2nd birthday and Lucy (Raymond's sister) and Jason's wedding reception. Lots of things are happening on Raymond's side of the family and we couldn't be more excited.

In other news I start a NEW JOB in August coordinating a Directors of  finance conference that will be happening in 2013 and helping coordinate the Universities 600 Anniversary events. EXCITING!

We have so much to be thankful for and I'm so happy right now. I love living in St. Andrews with the long long days. Last night it didn't get dark until around 12:00! It makes the short winter totally worth it!

One of the pastors at Carmel Baptist Church, Jay Hancock will be visiting us in two weeks and we are very excited to welcome him to Scotland.

I'm starting to help out with worship in our church, Trinity, and am really enjoying it. We love our Church and the community we have found. God has done amazing things in our lives and we just can't help but stop to praise Him. We are so happy and fulfilled.

Raymond is cracking away at his dissertation and will be presenting a paper at the Galatians conference that will be held in St. Andrews next month. This is a HUGE deal and I'm so very proud of him and all his hard work.

Graduation week is over and most the students have gone home. The average age of St. Andrews has dramatically gone UP. Tourists have started to flock in and I'm playing a new game where I try and photobomb every picture I possibly can. It's the little things in life...

That's all for now!

Later Days

Apparently I think I am Superwoman (this is a clumsy story)

In a land far far away lived a girl named Anonymous, okay okay her name is Mary Blake... man this is an embarrassing post to write.

This story is a two parter so buckle up boys and girls it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Part 1: It was a cold, dark winter afternoon. (sun sets at 4:30)

On this day Raymond and I got all bundled up to get some fresh air. (the actual reason for us being outside has been knocked out of my memory, see below)

Raymond had just walked through our garden gate and was waiting for his lovely graceful wife to join him. I (the lovely and graceful wife) locked the door, twirled around and started after Raymond. All of a sudden, for no reason what so ever, my tiny feet forgot about the tiny step that should have been effortlessly maneuvered. I tripped. Instead of stopping to regain my balance I try and do the "run it out" routine.

I have no idea why I did this because no one was around to see said trip and let's be honest the "run it out" (no one just saw me trip right?) recovery never fools anyone.

This routine didn't quite work the way I wanted. I ended up going too fast and tripping over the next step into our lovely garden. Let me be honest here, I was in a full out sprint when the second trip occurred and at this point am in no way in control of my limbs. This is the part where I become superwomen. I was literally fully extended, arms straight out in front of me legs behind me FLYING through the air. Alas, the in the air part didn't last long. I quickly lost altitude and the ground met my face pretty quickly.

Because Raymond had already walked through the gate, he was only able to witness the part where I'm flying through the air. Being the caring, sympathetic, and loving man that he is, he immediately starts laughing hysterically, "What HAPPENED? How did you do this???".

All that came out of my was a moan. At this point I wanted to cry, I scraped the top of my foot on the second step, laugh, because I'm clumsy, and just start digging a hole to crawl in, because I was embarrassed.

Part 2: It was a lovely Saturday afternoon. (Last week)

Things you need to know before I start the story:

Our bathroom is a mid-level bathroom which means it is located halfway down the stairs. Here is the deal, I don't know why but I like to run up and down stairs. sometimes I run up and down stairs by twos. I know with my track record of falling I should probably take it slow, holding the rail at all times. What can I say? I'm a rebel.



I had just gotten home from a shift at the Sports Centre and was getting ready to take a shower. In true Mary Blake fashion I started to run down the stairs. I tripped, regained my balance, then tripped again. The second trip was when I once again became superwomen. I FLEW straight into the bathroom and to add insult to injury the toilet stopped my forward motion. To be more specific my head meeting the toilet stopped my forward momentum. Injuries you ask? I came out on top of this one. I had a slight carpet burn on my right knee and a small headache. This is a small miracle considering I was STARK NAKED!!!!!!   *face palm*

Raymond heard the commotion and ran to see what had happened. He started again belly laughing and I had to join in.

Hope you enjoy my embarrassing stories. Let's all pray that one day I will have control over my limbs.

Excuse me... I'm an American.

Well  we had a very eventful visit from my parent’s Steve and Beth. It was so good to see their faces. This was the longest I’ve ever gone without seeing my parents and it was definitely a relief to hug their necks!

Of course my Mom’s bags didn’t  make it, :( (we found out later it was due to TSA). Good thing she can fit into my clothes, shoes and all! Like mother like daughter! Her bags arrived 3 days later!

We woke up the next morning at the crack of dawn, well not really the crack of dawn, more like 6:00am to catch and early train to Edinburgh.  (the crack of dawn here during the spring/summer is around 4:30am! The first week or two we were adjusting we would always wake up around 5 in a blind panic thinking we overslept! Can you say black out curtain?!) 

This was a BUSY day because we went on the Real Mary King’s Close tour then jumped back on a train to Stirling.

Train to Stirling!

The Castle was amazing!

Stirling Castle side Garden

 By then were very tired but still up for more! We hoped on another train to Linlithgow Palace. This was the highlight. It is just an amazing place to see. You can get lost in these ancient ruin walls. This is my second time going and each time I’ve visited I’ve been transformed back into time. It’s like I use my own personal imagination station (Adventures in Odyssey reference) and make a story in my head of the people who lived here and the drama that ensued.

Linlithgow Palace

James the V and Queen Mary of Scots were both born here. I stood in the very room where they were born. It’s just an amazing place and if you are ever in Scotland I would highly recommend you go.

We walked back to the Train station and my amazingly hysterical Mother said one of her infamous lines that will haunt her (through me) till the end of her days. We were walking down the steps to get on the train platform. Lots of people were walking downstairs and one man was trying to get upstairs. My mom and this guy nearly ran into each other and my proclaimes loudly and in her amazingly southern accent, “Excuse me, I’m and AMERICAN.”

I immediately burst laughter and repeating the phrase. Her reason for saying this to the man is was she was walking down on the right hand side of the stairwell. (brits drive on left) My Mom has an overwhelming need to explain to total strangers what and why she is doing things. (I’m exaggerating here but really, it gets funny)

THE REST of the trip we were saying the phrase “Oh excuse me, I’m an American”, for absolutely everything

Trip on over your own feet? Oh I’m an American.

Win a golf game on Wii? Oh excuse me I’m an American

Anything and everything. I love my mom more than I can say!

Campbell Castle

The next few days were packed with adventure. We rented a car and drove out to Campbell Castle, saw a bagpipe parade in Dollar and explored the sea towns of St. Monans, Pittenweem, Anstruther, Crail.

Like I said JAM PACKED

We showed the Rents around St. Andrews and they absolutely loved the town. Dad played golf with my Boss. We ate at amazing restaurants and I finally convinced Dad that they actually had good food in Scotland! He was wrong dead wrong (inside joke)

We played a lot of Guillotine, a fun card game that Raymond and I taught my parents. They loved it so much we gave them our deck so they would be able to play in Italy. The last I heard Mom was killing dad in the airport getting ready to go to Florence, (thank you Dad for keeping me updated on all the scores via texts) haha

All in all I Love my parents more than I can say and am so glad they came and visited us.

I'm a Stalker

I never thought I would be one of "those" people who freaked out when they heard someone like Justin Beiber would be coming to town near you. Switch the name Justin Beiber with Colin Firth and I completely lost it.

MR DARCY  is going to be WHERE???? (internal freak out commence)

Colin Firth is one of my all time favs obviously because of above mentions Pride and Prejudice, but because of so many more amazing films... King's Speech, Nanny McPhee, Bridget Jones, What a Girl Wants with Amanda Bynes (p.s. I want to be her best friend) but mostly Mr. Darcy.

Here is the story...



Trying to explain to my Husband why I had to go to St. Monans (a 20 min drive from St. Andrews) was a hysterical/frustrating conversation. Transcript below:

Me- COLIN FIRTH is going to be here filming a MOVIE! We HAVE to go seeee him!

Raymond- Um who?

Me-MR DARCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Raymond- (blank stare)

Me- Uggg King's speech guy!

Raymond- Oh, which guy in Kings speech?

Me- The one with the speech impediment!

Raymond-Oh ok. 

Me- We HAVE to go see him!

Raymond- Why?

Me- BECAUSE IT'S MR. DARCY!!!!!

Raymond- You know it's not actually Mr. Darcy right?

Me- YES he is!!! (not going to let him burst my Mr Darcy bubble)

PEOPLE- who wouldn't want to see Mr. Darcy in a Setting like this?

 

This is St. Monans Church

I then immediately knew he would not understand. So I turned to my fellow female admirers, namely Laura and Christy, and after a morning of Shopping in Dundee we were off to Stalk. 

And Stalk we did... I learned the following about stalkers, the people and the occupation.

1. Stalking is Hard

2. Stalking is not for people with ADD

3. In order to Stalk make sure you have all the details

4. Don't be afraid to ask the locals questions.

We walked around the town for a good 30 mins trying to be inconspicuous (I just totally spelled that word right without spell check, small victory) before we asked someone, Colin Firth's whereabouts!

We were pointed in the correct direction and let's be honest, we ran... awkwardly nervously Ran to find HIM. 

We found Colin (first name basis) in the old church's graveyard filming. I heard the director yell ACTION! I snuck past a (Staff only) sign and was generally being creepy and stalkerish.

Yes I saw Colin Firth. I knew I moved to Scotland for Adventure but I was not expecting this!

Side Note: The movie that was being filmed was called The Railway Man co-staring Nichole Kidman

Nichole Kidman and Keith Urban were both there as well (really didn't care about them).