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.