Alright...we are back!

Hi! So, it is always so hard to find time to do everything you want in a day. Right?! For the last month or so I have been trying to organize and write out important experiences in my journal which is why I took some time off the blogging. See, it seemed like whenever I took the time to write a post, it took away from the time I should have used for keeping a journal hence....the blog break. However, now that I am "caught up" (as caught up as I hope to be anyway)I have decided to try an combine the journal with the blogging. I know, it sounds so cliche (I read 'seriously so blessed' too) but I have a friend who informed me of a website that can digitally create a scrapbook/memory journal using blog posts so...I believe that would be the answer to my time crunch problems. So...that means (and a really do apologize for those who will think think boring)that I will try to post more little things about our everyday life...to keep it for the "journal". Again, sorry if it's boring but hey, you don't have to read it, right?!

Anyway, so now that I've stated my intentions I wanted to give a brief update on the Scotland happenings. It's getting closer and closer! Just a little over two months away from the big move! Mike's parents were kind enough to spend a weekend in Aberdeen to scope out the area for us...give us an idea of where it's best to locate housing, etc. They wrote an email about their visit a few weeks ago and it made me so excited I wanted to share a little excerpt from my kind father-in-law:

Hi Mike & Emily

We have returned from our journey of discovery. Being totally unfamiliar with Scotland, we were somewhat surprised by it. We expected the area below Edinburgh to be the same as Northumberland, but thought that by the time we reached Aberdeen, 200 miles north of us, we would be into hills and mountains and glens and lochs. Shows you how much we know! The Highlands are on the west coast, Aberdeen and area could be anywhere in England!

It's known as the granite city, for that is what it's built of. Happily there are lots of trees and open spaces to relieve the grey of the buildings. It's a very compact city which means it doesn't take you long to get places. There isn't the suburban sprawl you get with most cities. The countryside stops, the city begins and nowhere are you far from the former or from water. The city sits between two large rivers,the Don and the Dee, with the sea forming a third side. However they apparently have a problem with water shortage, which means building is restricted and hence I suppose the high cost of property.

We liked the city and think you will too, particularly since there seems to be an exceptional amount of sporting facilities. The university obviously has a sports centre, but then there's another one almost next door and a dry ski slope opposite, with a cycle track converted from an old railway line behind, a skating rink on the sea front and football and rugby pitches everywhere, as well as other sports centres. There's a long sandy beach with a large fun fair - a bit like an overlarge Newquay.

Robert Gordon University, or at least the bit you will be at, is about 6 years old, beautifully situated on the banks of the River Dee. There's the sports centre, classrooms for medical related subjects, a business school and art college, library and book shop, a doctor's surgery and a very nice nursery. Next door is a small shopping centre with Boots, Sainsbury's, Comet, etc.

We stayed on the outskirts of the city in a very old part of what used to be a fishing village. The single storey fishing cottages with their narrow lanes are still there and they still fish for lobster and crabs. The coast at that point is very rocky and the water apparently deep as I stood and watched some young lads tombstoning, egged on by their dad.

(From Dad):

I love the way he writes! So, it sounds like a great place and I'm really excited to discover it for ourselves! BUT we do want to make sure everyone knows...we would love to have visitors! (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge) So if anyone is looking for a great vacation, we will have a place to stay in Scotland (that is if we are able to find housing first...but I'm sure that will be a post for another time.)