Day 1 & 2 in Edinburgh

It's now Tuesday evening and we've spent two whole days in Edinburgh. We love this place! The history, the architecture, the people, and the cleanliness of the city are all reasons to fall in love. Yesterday morning after our nap, we forced ourselves to get out of bed despite the lack of sleep to try to get on a normal sleep schedule. Our B&B is a quick 20 minute stroll away from the center of the city so we bundled up and walked in. The temperature is fairly moderate...somewhere around 40-45 degrees but the wind is horrendous! It is nice to feel the cool weather although, leaving Charleston when it's 75 degrees definitely makes it feel like any time of the year except Christmas. Beings it was Christmas day, everything in the town was shut down and most people were at home with their families. This made it very quiet but we kind of liked it. As a promise to Miss Julie Waller, we found a Scottish pub, Deacon Brodie's Tavern,  to enjoy fish and chips and a cold beer as our Christmas dinner. She said that is what SHE wanted for Christmas but didn't exactly have to twist our arm. It was delicious Jules...thanks for dinner!

After we ate, we walked up and down the "Royal Mile" and came home...The Royal Mile actually consists of 4 different streets which once divided two settlements, Edinburgh & Canongate. At the beginning of the mile is the Edinburgh Castle (which we are touring tomorrow) that dates back to the 11th century. Hard to believe. We basically came back home after our self-guided walking tour but not before Matt stopped to grab a few brews from a local convenience store. He thought he was buying really manly, stout Scottish beer, but in fact it was hard apple cider. Fail. He drank about half of one.

We came back home around 6:00 as everything was shut down in the city, and by 7, we were both ready for bed. We went to sleep and woke up about 3 hours later wide awake, watched a movie on the iPad, and then attempted to go back to sleep for a few hours. Let's just say this morning was a little rough! Our host, Shaun, made us the most delicious, full Scottish breakfast complete with poached eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, and unlimited OJ. We started the day off right.

We then headed into town for the day...touring the National Museum of Scotland, the Scotch Whiskey Experience (a.k.a. "Malt Disney"), tried for the 2nd time to attend mass at St. Giles Cathedral (closed...but open tomorrow), and went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Today is "Boxing Day" in Scotland, a holiday that follows Christmas Day where people go out and SHOP! So...I ended my day at Zara (I thought of you Alicia...and Kari, I finally bought my blazer!) Everything was on sale...good thing we only have carry-ons! Tonight, we ate dinner at Zizzi which was an amazing pasta and pizza joint. Now, we are home and we actually made it to 9:00 so far so we are doing better than last night.

That's about all for today...hope you had a lovely day after Christmas:) 

Merry Christmas from Edinburgh!

Merry Christmas from Scotland! Matt and I have finally arrived and are ready to celebrate our Christmas day in Scottish fashion. We are thinking of our families and missing them dearly but are treasuring our time together, just the two of us. Next Christmas may look very different :)

We left Charleston at about noon yesterday with a quick flight to Newark, NJ. It was slightly eerie to get on this flight as it was mostly empty with only 10 passengers. Strange beings it was Christmas Eve. After a quick 1.5 hours, we touched down at Newark and I was fascinated by the view of lower Manhatten just out the window. I have never been to NYC but hope to cross that off our bucket list while we're over here on the east coast. For now although, my view from the airport will suffice. We spent the next 5 hours hanging out in the airport, trying to stay awake so that we could sleep on the plane. We were both really tired and wanted to take a nap but we read, watched football, and ate dinner in an Irish Pub instead.

At 7:00pm, we boarded our flight. We ended up sitting on the runway until about 8:30 as they fixed something but with the endless choice of movies and TV shows, we were easily entertained. As soon as the flight took off, they fed us dinner...some sort of chicken dish that was really good actually. I started watching a movie and Matt was reading but we quickly fell asleep. I kept waking up to turbulence but the entire flight was quiet and dark so it was easy to sleep. The flight went by VERY quickly. It was soon time to get up, eat some breakfast, and land.

We gathered our things, went through customs, and walked out to find a taxi. This cute old man drove us to our Bed & Breakfast telling us all kinds of neat information about what we have to do while we are here. Just about an hour ago, we arrived at our B&B. Shaun (our host) seems very lovely and made us feel right at home. I know he is married but we haven't met his wife yet...they both have great reviews though so I'm sure she is just as sweet. For now, we are going to take a nap (we are TIRED! It's only 4:00am SC time) and then head into town to enjoy our Christmas day by viewing the Norwegian Christmas tree & attending mass at St. Giles Cathedral. Who knows what else the day holds...

Merry Christmas everyone! We miss all our family and friends back in Montana today but are thinking of you. Eat some prime rib for me!

MIA

Oh how I'm missing my blog. I long to wake up, drink some peppermint mocha infused coffee, turn on Christmas music, and sit down to blog. I'm looking forward to doing just that in about 5 mornings. This week is the last week of school before Christmas break. Let me preface this by saying that I LOVE my job. I really do...my heart melts every day because of these children and I could not imagine doing anything else in the world for a career. I have been so blessed to be hired where I am. Before I left Seattle, I was offered a job at what I thought was going to be my dream school. I know it would have been an amazing experience but God had other plans for me. In the following months, I became quite discouraged after 5 months of searching for a teaching job but tried to be faithful in knowing that just the right opportunity would pop up. It did. Never in a million years would I imagine that I would be in South Carolina with these oh-so-southern students but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I will be catching up with you next week...can't wait!

Joyful

Loving all things Christmas...missing friends and family in Montana & Seattle during this holiday season. Grateful for a loving husband & the cutest puppy. Merry December!

Living in Kingdom Time

By starting on Sunday, I obviously meant Wednesday :) Day 22 is about living in kingdom time. Last week, I received an answer to many prayers about finding a job in Charleston. I was offered a third grade teaching position at a school here...finally! It has been what feels like forever since I have been in the classroom and am so incredibly excited about this opportunity. After being a stay-at-home wife for the past 6 months, it is difficult to get back into the groove of spending 40 hours a week outside my house. I am used to getting up, drinking coffee, walking Raleigh on the beach, and then spending my day performing my wifely duties :) and having plenty of "me" time. I still felt busy keeping up with our tiny family that I wonder and fear how our lives will be different now. Welcome to the real world I guess.

Karen says it best "time...if only there were more of it. Or more energy to accomplish our goals in the time we do have. But wait! Do we want to keep falling prey to the tyranny of time management? Our culture is inundated with time management tools: date books, pocket calendars, wrist watches with built-in alarms, beepers for belt... and seminars on how to save, spend, invest, maximize, and catch time before it flies away!


What if time was not the fleeting, tyrannizing resource we are taught to believe it is? What if we chose instead to view time as an expression of God? God's speed. God's gift to us. A part of His very nature. Would we so anxiously live by deadlines, join the morning rat race, or grab a minute and run with it? Wouldn't we instead, be moved to rethink and perhaps reshape the way we use time? Perhaps our goal would be stewardship rather than management. Rather than accomplishing and accumulating according to some self-imposed deadline, we might share our time by serving others in Jesus' name."

Basically what I'm saying is that I feel I will now be challenged to invest my time not at work to eternal purposes. There will always be laundry to get done, a dishwasher to empty, closets to organize, a yard to tend to, but these things do not matter in the grand scheme of things. I fill a lot of my time with mindless chores like I just mentioned and what am I essentially gaining from that? Nothing other than a peace of mind and an impressed husband...if I'm lucky!:)

Let's respond to the call. Let's take the time and receive the grace to set our clocks and our calendars according to God's agenda and to reorder our lives around His values, His commandments, and His priorities. Let's learn his "timeless" management.

Today, I'm thankful for this sweet reminder to spend my time investing in eternal purposes. Makes me feel like I can breathe.

thankful

I think we need to rewind this blog and finish the 31 Day of Thankfulness before Thanksgiving in just two weeks...beings that there are 31 days, we'll start with Day 20 on Sunday and finish by Thanksgiving...here's a little something to be thankful for in the meantime. I stole it from another blog that I read this morning...

to trust

We have almost completed our 3rd month of living in Charleston and boy has it been an experience. We continue to be grateful for such an amazing city...the history, the beauty, & the friendly community. We do love this place. We both have always wanted to live in the south, experiencing the culture and taking in all of the differences that the north does not have to offer but I have to admit that this move has been harder on me(us) than we expected. Don't get me wrong, it has been an experience of a lifetime and I am glad that we took this chance. It has been exciting, fun, and sometimes a bit scary and lonely. I believe we are being challenged to trust in the Lord's plan for our lives because there is obviously a reason for our hearts to have been aligned to have the desire to move here. Our friend Lindsey from Seattle kept telling us "it's going to be so good for your marriage" and she is right. Matt and I are being forced to simply rely on prayer and one another...we have learned a lot about each other just in the last three months. Our first year of marriage was always so busy with Matt's job, my student teaching and wrapping up grad school, and our constant adventure. We had an amazing first year of marriage but when we landed in Charleston on Day 1 of Year 2, I felt like we were able to finally breathe and just enjoy one another.

Our times of loneliness are hard but a challenge that we will continue to grow through. It causes us to be even more grateful for the people that we love in Seattle and back home in Montana. I don't know what the next season in our lives will look like or how long we will live in South Carolina but I am content in knowing that His plan for us is perfect in every way.

Last night, we had the privilege of skyping with a couple that is being obedient to God's plan for their lives and they wanted to share with us what they are doing...if you are interested, read here. They are  turning their lives upside down for what they are being called to and it was such a reassurance of God's grace and peace for us. Thank you Megan & Chris (and sweet baby Siena) for being an incredible witness and a great reminder that this life is not about us.

I know it has been forever since I have written about my days of thankfulness (I really need to finish) but today, I am thankful for loneliness. I know that sounds strange but it is in these times that I grow the most and am reminded of what's important in life...not material items, money, a house, the perfect life, etc. but the people that we love the most and following a calling that is not of ourselves.