this one's for you Kaeli Goodnature

It has been brought to my attention that I have been seriously neglecting my blogging duties so I will attempt to rectify this situation. Two days ago I finished my final essay of my second semester of my Masters program!! woohoo!! It was quite possibly the worst essay I have ever written in my entire life about a subject that nobody really wants to hear about...aka the European Union's coherence in humanitarian assistance affairs... see told ya you don't really want to hear about it. I gave myself the rest of the week off to recharge and gear up for my dissertation writing which I will try to start next week. Everyone cross your fingers and toes for that one.

My flights back to America have also been officially booked! (this is the part where you scream and jump up and down with uncontainable excitement haha) I will be back in Minnesota from May 29th until June 12th. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and be more pleasant than the last week has been here. If you go to weather.com and look up Edinburgh, Scotland you will see a ten day forecast that consists of rain, rain, and yes you guessed it... more rain!

So far my post-Masters plan consists of staying in Scotland and getting a job so that they will not kick me out of the country :) I absolutely love it here and hope to spend quite a few years here amongst the Scots.

I will leave you one little story from my adventures because I'm sure that by now the episode of Numbers that I have been trying to watch has stopped buffering...
A couple of weeks ago I was leaving for the airport and had called a taxi to take me (because I was far too lazy to walk to the bus). My cell phone rang indicating that the taxi was waiting outside so I made my way down the stairs and out the door. Waiting for me at the curb was a man in what I'm guessing was his early 50's. He took my bag from me and put it in the trunk as I climbed into the back seat. The second he sat down in the drivers seat the questions started... Where was I going? What was I doing there? How long was I staying? If I had been playing a drinking game where I had to take a shot every time he asked a question I would have been dead from alcohol poisoning before I hit the end of the block. I was just starting to gear up to be extremely annoyed for the entire trip to the airport when the driver realized that I was from America. I don't think that there is a single American who loves the States as much as this Scotsman.....
The things I know about my taxi driver:
1. He has a time share in Disney World
2. He and his wife love Disney
3. They have been married for 38 years.
4, They have 5 grandchildren that they take care of on the weekends.
5. The youngest one makes my taxi driver drive him to McDonalds in the taxi.
6. The little boy orders a Happy Meal with juice at McDonalds.
7. The little boy and his brother are adorable (he showed me a Disney World key chain with their pictures on it)
8. If he could live anywhere in the States guess where it would be (hint: oranges) and yes that is the hint he gave me
9. He knows the entire history of Disney World (he gave me a brief summary)
10. It is the youngest grandsons turn to go to Disney. They are going in October. His older brother got to go last year.
11. His favorite Disney movies are Pete's Dragon and Herbie (not the LL version) and he also likes the Princess Diaries
12. His brother lives in Texas. He started his own business. It was rough at first but now he loves it there.
13. He thinks I'm a sweet girl :)
14. He knows all of the words to God Bless America (I know this because he sang it to me)

Things I don't know about my taxi driver... his name.

I'm still alive!!

Hello All!!

I'm sorry that it has been SOOOOOOOOOOOOO long since my last post. There is really no excuse for it.... but if there was it would be that I just plain forgot :( I will not try to remember everything that has happened in the past three months so that I can share it with you, I will simply pick up from two weekends ago.

I am sure that most of you know that Paul got a new job (temporarily) in Paris which he started almost a month ago. Last weekend I was forced (haha yeah right) to go visit him and get him all settled in his new flat. We had a great time and managed to see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, walk along the Champs Elysee and saw the Invalides from afar. We did manage to do a little bit of shopping on Sunday... for Lucas. I was informed a few days prior to my trip that Lucas Jon Peterson himself requested that I buy him a present while I was in Paris. (of course I hadn't spoken to him in weeks but he didn't bother himself with idle chit chat... he got straight to business) And of course being the best big sister that I am I happily obliged. :) The trip home went very smoothly (THANK GOODNESS!!!!) and if you do not know the story of my previous trip to Paris then you have no idea why I am so happy and I'm not going to tell you here so I guess you're just shit out of luck.

I had an essay due this past Friday which I had been working on the previous week as I knew that I would be out of town for the weekend. I was in the process of writing it and was so close to finished when..... DUN DUN DUN.... I came down with the stomach flu :( the day before my essay was due. So I felt horrible physically and mentally I was slightly freaking out because I have never ever ever in my entire life missed a deadline. So I was frantically emailing everyone that I could think of (while hovering over my garbage can) to get an extension. I was instructed to email my Programme Director as he was the only person who was able to grant the sought after extension. So I did. Then I waited.... and I waited... and I waited... It got to be 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and I still had not heard back from him. I was getting a little frantic. So I sent him another email saying that I was sorry for being so persistent but I was very ill and I had never been through this process before so I was a little nervous and if he could email me back soon I would really appreciate it. A half hour later he responded. And I'm not gonna lie, he was a bit of a sassy pants. But never the less he granted me my extension. YAY!!! So I finished up my essay on Saturday when I was finally feeling better and handed it in an hour ago.

My weekend finished up with a very pleasant Saturday visiting my friend Kelley at work and having a fancy coffee followed by a trip to the pub with Heather to watch Scotland lose at rugby :( but Liverpool draw in football. I have decided that Liverpool is the football team that I am going to support (except for Suarez because he is a racist douche and they should have kicked him out for the rest of the season) except when they play Man U because otherwise Paul would never speak to me again. Not that he is too happy about me liking Liverpool in the first place :S

Well that is all for today. I hope that everyone is having a great new year so far!! Love you all :)

Paul forced me to take pictures by myself... which I hate

not the greatest picture but oh well...

merry christmas!!

Yo Yo!

I know that I have been seriously neglecting my duties but I have been swamped with finishing up final essays. I am now officially finished with my first semester of graduate school!! I can't quite believe it and now I have 5 1/2 weeks to do with my time what I will.

We had an American Thanksgiving for all of the foreigners at our flat. A total of 20 people showed up!! Our flat was completely packed with Americans, Scots, Irish, Australians, and Chinese. It was like a meeting of the UN!! haha :) We did it pot luck style with everyone bringing a traditional Thanksgiving dish. I was responsible for the squash, which of course is my favorite food :) I baked and mashed 9 large squash which made an enormous dish. Everyone said that they liked it so I guess I didn't mess up to badly. Paul was responsible for the mashed potatoes. He peeled, boiled, and mashed 60 potatoes!! It was insane! It was really nice to have everyone gathered in one spot just eating and chatting (which of course is what Thanksgiving is all about). However, non-Americans do not quite understand the role that eating plays. They couldn't grasp the concept that on Thanksgiving you are supposed to eat until you want to puke and couldn't possibly put one more spoonful in your mouth. So we had TONS of food left over. But all in all it was a great time!! :)

This is the first Christmas that I will be away from home, which is a little strange. However, Paul's parents have been nice enough to invite my friend Lexi and me over to their home on Christmas Day for dinner with their family. Lexi and I also have plans to watch every Christmas movie possible on Christmas Eve and stuff our faces with cookies.

Two weeks ago I went to my first ever pro tennis tournament! It was amazing! I took the train down to London and met up with my friend Jamie who lives there. We had great seats right behind the baseline, half way up the first section in the O2 arena. Unfortunately I did not get to see my future husband Novak but he was not at his best so even thought I was upset at least I didn't miss much. We ended up seeing a really good match between David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, and the arena was packed. I didn't get to see much else of London as I was only there for one night but I'm sure that I will make it back down at some point to do some proper sight seeing.

My goal for this Christmas break is to hit the gym everyday and read, read, read (but for pleasure not for school). So far I have done well. I made it to the gym this morning and I read half of a book last night. I have a feeling my Kindle is going to fill up pretty quickly.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Love you!

Corbyn

So many potatoes!!

probably the closest I will ever get to Novak :(

such awesome seats!

Weekend Up North!!

Hello All!!

I realize that I have been severely neglecting my duties but for the last three weeks I have been an essay writing machine and this weekend has been the first chance that I have had to take a breath. I have three weeks left of class which does not seem possible. This first semester has flown by!! Unfortunately for those of you who were looking forward to seeing my beautiful, smiling face ( :) ) over Christmas break you will be sadly disappointed. I have decided that the cost:benefit ratio is simply too high :( I would however be happy to skype or video chat with any or all who just can't seem to live without me :).

As a reward for completing my essays Paul and I went up north to Oban this past weekend with Paul's friend Euan and his girlfriend Cathy. We drove up Friday after I turned in my essay and Paul took the scenic route through Killin (yep that is the name of the town) so that I could get the full Scottish experience. From the start of our journey I took on the role of "annoying picture taker" and ended up taking around 60 pictures plus a few videos to commemorate the trip. Oban is a pretty small town on the west coast of Scotland between Glasgow and the Isle of Skye. It is about a 2-2 1/2 hour car ride from Falkirk (Paul's home town) but it seems a lot longer due to the crazy, curvy roads. On Saturday the four of us took a ferry over to the Isle of Mull and did a driving tour around the whole island. It was an extremely beautiful day (surprising for fall in Scotland) and there was tons of amazing scenery (AND SHEEP!!!) to look at. The ride was very very very very long though. It would have been nice to cut the driving time in half and have spent more time wandering around the "big" city. That took up most of our day on Saturday and we ended up having a quiet night at our hotel as we were all pretty tired. Sunday was spent driving home the even more scenic route (and making a pit stop at a whiskey shop in Inverary). Paul and I then drove back to Falkirk, going past Loch Lomond which was completely covered in very heavy fog. All in all it was a great weekend and a much needed break after the stressful past three weeks. Now I am back at uni and about to start working on my final essays that are due at the beginning of December (a student's work is never finished).

The weather is starting to turn a bit chillier now though it is still very sunny! The kitchen in our flat is being re-done this week which is very exciting because our appliances are not exactly top of the line. :S
I hope that everything is going well back in the States and that everyone in Minnesota is staying warm!! Love you!

the trusty driver :) probably slightly annoyed that i kept taking his picture

photo stop on our way up to oban

isle of mull

stress!!!!

Essays are now upon us :( I am making good progress with one down and two to go. Hopefully I will be able to finish them up ahead of schedule and not still be writing at 3:59pm on Nov. 4th (my last essay is due at 4pm) Just kidding mom and dad I would never do that :S.....

The weather has officially turned here in Edinburgh and it is rainy and about 40 everyday. Gross. Yet still better than Minnesota :)

I had a great time on my birthday with all of the new friends I have made here. We went out for Mexican (one of my favs) and then came back to our flat for a little while before heading out to the pubs. Somehow I managed to be the least intoxicated person. On my own birthday. Don't really know how that happened. But at least I felt the best the next day :)

There isn't too much to report at the moment because I have been so bogged down with essay writing. Hopefully something exciting will happen soon so that I can tell you all about it!!

Birthday Presents to Myself :)

So my birthday is on Saturday (I'm sure that you all have it marked on your calendars) and so I decided to give myself a couple of early birthday presents. The most exciting one was a ticket to the ATP Tour finals in London at the end of November!!!! Dustin Demmer's friend Jamie made me aware of this tournament last week and I of course jumped on it. Jamie is also a huge tennis fan and when he and Dustin were in Edinburgh we talked about tennis so much at the pub that Kelley pulled a textbook out of her bag and began reading it. Jamie purchased our tickets on Friday night and we will be attending the night match on the final weekend and be sitting right behind one of the players on the deuce side. The other present that I bought myself is more practical though no less exciting (at least to me). I have ordered on Amazon fuzzy Hunter wellie socks and not one but two bottles of Sriracha hot sauce :) I love spicy food and back in the States I put Sriracha on everything, including but not limited to pizza, pasta, eggs, quesdillas, etc. I will now attach a Sriracha based poster that those of you who don't know what it is can attempt to understand how amazing it is.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/sriracha

This is my last week before really buckling down and getting my first round of essays in order. Wish me luck!!

Epic Jog

Hi Hi!

This week began with an Albert Lea reunion of sorts. Dustin Demmer, who has been traveling around Europe for the past 6 weeks, made a stop in Edinburgh! I, being the expert that I am (after 3 weeks), was designated as the Edinburgh tour guide. Dustin and his friend Jamie arrived on Monday afternoon and I met them down on the Royal Mile. (FYI there are two Parliament Squares so when you are meeting someone there be very specific) We had dinner at a pub off of Princes Street and then walked towards campus while I pointed out all of the important land marks for them to snap pictures of. I am sure that most of you know Dustin or the Demmer family so I won't go into much detail about him besides that fact that he used to cheat off of me in high school Spanish :) His friend Jamie is English so being the good Scot that I am immediately hated him (just kidding). Hopefully I will make it to London in the not too far future and Jamie will be able to return the favor by showing me all that London has to offer. It was great to catch up and I think that they had a great time in the city (even though they were here for less than 24 hrs).

The weather this week has been unreal. It has been 72 and sunny almost every day. I decided to take advantage of this weather and go for a jog through Holyrood Park. For those of you that don't know, Holyrood Park is a large park area at the back of Holyrood Palace. It has a large mountain type hill, known as Arthur's Seat, in the middle as well as a group of crags. There is a road that goes around the middle of the hill which Arthur's Seat is on known as Queens Drive. There is also another road that encircles the base of the hill and goes all the way around the park, venturing into a residential area. I started off my jog on the lower road, because who am I kidding I certainly didn't want to hike halfway up a mountain and then run. I was approximately two miles into my workout and about to enter the residential area when I noticed a map of the park and all of its paths. Thinking myself quite clever I decided to look for a path from the road I was on up to Queens Drive (thinking that I would hit Queens Drive at a lower point). And what do you know there was such a path and it began exactly where I was!! I began making my way through the trees, turned a corner on the path and saw...STAIRS...UP A MOUNTAIN...Needless to say my first thought was !@#$!#$%#$^#$%!#$%@#$^ but I had already committed to taking this path so I kept right on going. There were a cajrillion stairs!! And let us not forget that I had already ran two miles. I finally crawled to the top and as I was taking that last step I looked up expecting to see Nirvana and what did my eyes fall upon...MORE STAIRS! I eventually reached the top, stopped for a minute in order to prevent a hear attack, and then proceeded to run the 3 miles back home. (and by run 3 miles I mean run 1 and then walk the other two) Lesson learned: there are no short cuts up a mountain. Too bad I had to learn that by experience.

I will now try to give a brief description of each of my roommates so that when I refer to them in the future you will know who I am talking about. I live with two other Americans and two Chinese students. Kelley is one of the Americans and is from California. She is 28 and is getting her MSc in Performance Psychology (aka Sports Psych). She is the one who was lucky enough to experience Glasgow for 2.7 seconds with me. She and I are two peas in a pod or as she refers to us PICsquared. (partners in crime and clothing) We literally wore the same outfit two days in a row. She made me change the second time (age before beauty) :). Next comes Heather. She is from Connecticut and is getting her Phd in Art History. I don't think I need to spell out for you what a huge nerd she is. Every time we are at a party or out on the town she somehow manages to let her nerd flag fly. We try to bring her back to Earth as often as possible. Then comes Su Ling. She is from China and is studying to become an English teacher for Chinese students. (I obviously don't know what the technical term for this is) She is hilarious. Apparently Chinese girls think that Thai girls are kind of hoochy and so we make her do impressions of Thai girls all of the time. Sooooo funny! Last but not least is Feiru. I believe that she is doing her MSc in Social Work. She is great as well and is always cooking. She cooks meals every day that necessitate using every single pan that we have in the flat. I am contemplating asking her if I can pay her to cook for me too. (Sorry mom I just really suck at cooking) And these are my roommates in a nut shell.

I want to leave you with one last tidbit of information. We had a pot luck dinner last night between the two girls' flats on our floor. We had pizza, nachos, mac & cheese, baked spaghetti, and chocolate cake. I am lactose intolerant.

Good night!

the first set of stairs from the "top"

the second set of stairs

my reward for not dying :)