Busy, busy, busy....

I'm going to ask for a few days back this week because they are going by too quickly. The past 24 hours alone has been jam packed full of fun.

First, our department (SRAS - Student Recruitment and Admissions Service), had a night out (or, as they say in Doric, "night oot"). It was a whopping £20 to go so I was not going to participate. But, when a very kind co-worker discovered that was why I wasn't going she offered to pay and let that be my "leaving" present. I was going to decline, but she persisted so I agreed. She was too kind and I think I will forever be grateful. I really enjoyed myself. One of the most interesting parts was beholding some of my co-workers consume more alcohol than I thought possible in the space of 4 hours, though I always hear stories at work so I was not surprised. They weren't all like that, just a handful. Thankfully the night ended before I could see things get worse!

It was a full night of Dodgems (bumper cars), dinner (the chef did an amazing job catering to my needs, so props to him), indoor miniature golf (which I think I heard referred to as "crazy golf" and was so happy it was indoors), and "ten-pin bowling" (it took me a long time realize they call it 10-pin bowling to differentiate it from lawn bowling, which is quite a popular sport amongst the older generations of Scots).  All in all it was a great night out and I enjoyed getting to observe a different side of the Scottish culture than I had before. Oh, and two hole-in-ones, one strike and a couple spares helped things too! To see some of the fun, go to my Facebook album SRAS Night Oot.

This morning first thing I finished up some photos of the Stratis family that we took on Monday (in the FREEZING cold, I might add). Here's a couple teasers to get you to click and see the rest of the cuteness.

Oh, and while you are there, be sure to check out the shots from Luke's two year photos that I put up a couple days ago. And just because I know you can't wait to see his cute face, here's one to get you started:

Then, it was off to my friend, Allison's baby shower. Allison and her husband arrived in Aberdeen a few days after Mark and I did. We met them the first Sunday we went to church here and have been friends ever since. We've been through the ups and downs of living overseas together, and I'm confident that she is an answer to my prayers before moving here that God would give me friends upon arrival. To see highlights of the shower, go here.

Right after the shower Mark picked me up and we headed to our friend, Ivan's, for our first taste of haggis (hmmm....it sounds much worse than it tastes if you read what it is)! We met Ivan our second week at church when we had been invited to someone's house for Sunday lunch and he was there as another guest. Since then we've enjoyed chatting with him before or after various services at church. A few weeks ago, when he found out we hadn't had haggis yet, he offered to have us over so we could try it.  So today was the day! Mark was committed to trying it and I was going to take the "out" because of food allergies. But, after looking at the packaging and determining it was safe enough, and feeling rather bold, I decided to just go for it and try it too! I'm glad I did just so I know what it is like. My stomach has been a bit of a mess since then, but it might have been a couple other things I ate that I don't typically eat, or perhaps the combination of all of them. But, you only live in Scotland once (I hope!) so it was worth it and I'm still glad I did it. To see documentation of monumental said event, click here.

Whew. So that has been my busy 24 hours and now that all photos are on-line for others to enjoy, I'm going to sit back and watch a movie with Mark. Or maybe LOST. Mark somehow roped me into starting to watch it, so now there is no turning back - we are officially LOST junkies.