Fabulous Friends

As I'm sure I've said before, it's been a rough year for me.  But one thing has been very, very good this year:  my friends.  Some of them have been here for a while with me, and we just hung out more this year.  Others of them are new to Aberdeen, but it feels like I've known them forever-- in a good way.  ;)  I am so blessed to have good friends here, who have loved me even when I've felt miserable and unlovable.  Here is just a taste of some of what I've done with them this spring and summer:

The Beckers (Carrie, Scot, Matthew and Adam) have been family for me-- literally.  One night a week, I go over to their flat for dinner and just hanging out.  Homemade soup and bread (Carrie is a fabulous cook), and games and conversation.   I just make myself at home, and it's been so great to have a family here again where I can just pop by anytime and who treat me like family.  I've missed that a lot since the Cornells left, and it's been so good to have that again this year.  Even if they live on the other side of town and I have to take the bus.  Which is another post in itself...

I have also done more fun stuff with the Beckers than just eat.  I've celebrated birthdays with them, gone swimming with Carrie and the boys (which was so fun, but so exhausting!  Adam is totally fearless, in or out of the water.), and attended a Mad Hatter Tea Party at Matthew's school (it was a fundraiser, and I bought a wee mint plant.).  The 'hats' in the photo below were made by Adam at the party.  Seriously, these guys have been great to me.  It's been just what I've needed this year.  Thank you, Beckers.  I love y'all.  =)

There is also, for the first time ever since I've been in Aberdeen, a group of single girls.  Yes, you read that right-- I'm no longer the lone singleton!  Okay, so there have been a few others here and there, but this past year there is a veritable gang of us.  Liz, Paige, Kristianna, Rebekah, Alisa, Aleithia... it's a miracle.  And worth the four year wait for it to happen.  I am a bit of a social butterfly again, going out for coffee or films or food... hanging out at other people's flats ordering in curry or fish 'n chips and watching dvds... helping my British friend get over her Subway phobias by walking her through the ordering process and enjoying the free refills.  Once a week, we students meet for coffee on campus in Zeste, which is known for it's lack of hospitality and random pricing changes and loads of loud undergrads and hit-or-miss coffees.  It's always an adventure.  Also fairly often, we would gather at Paige and Kristianna/Rebekah's flat to order in the best curry in Aberdeen-- Khyber Pass.  Sometimes we'd just eat and chat;  other times we played games (see the photo below of our cut-throat game of Apples to Apples.).  Mostly I just enjoyed being with the girls.  Liz, Pagie, RitaBekah, Kristianna-- thanks.  I love y'all, too.  =D

My friend Alisa had a car for a while... I helped her practice her right-hand driving and manual shifting, and named the car: an old red Escort, named Wheezy (after Ron Weasley, of course).  Sadly, Wheezy has now passed on... but on our first outing we drove to Banchory and ate at the Falls of Feugh restaurant.  I had Lettuce Soup, which sounds terrible but was actually quite delicious.  We also have had a lot of rain this year, so when we were there, the falls were really something to behold (see the video at the end, if you want a taste of their power that day). 

We also got a group together to go see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening day.  Inca John came along, as well, and took advantage of the photo opportunity to document our outing.  Most of you who know me will know that I am not a huge fan of the films (which is putting it mildly).  Still, it was fun to go with friends, even if I hated the film.  Okay, to be fair, I hated this one less than I have three through five... but I think it's only because my expectations could not have possibly gotten any lower than they were.  That doesn't bode well for films 7A and 7B, though, because now my expectations will have been slightly raised again.  *sigh*  The book is always better.  I should just get used to that, but I can't give up my hope that one day a film will get it right.  At least my friends enjoyed it.  =) 

And finally, because a picture really is worth more than all my rambling, here are some of my friends and the fun we've had together. 

 

Methodist Milestone

I am a United Methodist through and through.  It's not just because I've grown up in this denomination all my life (even though I have).  It's not just because I've gone to UM-related college and seminary (although I have).  It's because it's where I find I fit.  I have been involved with other denominations, have thought through the theological and doctrinal issues, and decided that this is my church home.  Any Wesleyan-Arminian traditions are comfortable to me (I was a common-law Wesleyan for most of my time at Asbury, after all), and I don't have any problem worshipping with or serving with those of other denominations.  But for me, the United Methodist Church is home.

Except in Scotland.  Here, I'm just plain Methodist.  And here, for the first time, I'm part of a church that was actually started by and visited by John Wesley himself.  He came to Aberdeen to start the Methodist Society here.  And he visited a couple of times.  How cool is that?!  We even have a big fancy chair in our sanctuary that was made for one of his visits.  It's the John Wesley chair.  =)

This summer, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of Methodism in Aberdeen.  We at Crown Terrace got together with other churches (like the Salvation Army) to celebrate.  We had an 'Ad Hoc Choir' to perform at a special service, celebrating Methodist hymns through the ages.  I practiced with them for three weeks, and thoroughly enjoyed singing alto again, as well as learning some traditional UK hymns.  We even made the world debut of a new hymn, buy a local Methodist scholar, academic, missionary, and all-round amazing man, Andrew Walls.  I have the songs downloaded, but I don't know how to get them here to share them with you.  I'll try to figure it out, but I can't make any promises.  If you come see me, I'll play them for you to have a listen.  =)

We also had a special open-air service in the Castlegate on the Saturday.  It was both an act of celebration for our heritage in Aberdeen, as well as an act of witness to the city.  The Salvation Army band played, we sang hymns, had prayers and our pastor, Ken Morgan, shared a short sermon.  It was a very dreich day (spitting rain, cold, foggy, generally yucky) but I'm so glad I went.  We were a small crowd, but the weather didn't put a damper on our spirits.  After the service, the Salvation Army opened up their cafe to us for free coffee, tea and biscuits so that we could all fellowship together... and thaw out a wee bit.  It was really cool to be there, to stand as a witness for Christ in Aberdeen, and to share fellowship and solidarity with other Methosdists here today and going back 250 years. 

The photos are of Howard Marshall, Paul Ellingworth, the Salvation Army captain, and Ken Morgan.  The following video is probably not much to look at, but I took it to give you a little sense of my hymn-singing life here.  It never fails;  I hear a tune I know and the words are different.  Or, in this case, I see words I know, and then the tune is totally different.  *sigh*  =)



Still.  I love being a Methodist, United or otherwise.  John Wesley is the Man.  =D

Living Up To My Name

In case you haven't noticed, I have been a total slacker for quite a while now.  My friend Becky, of The Holloway Clan, gave me this award (and challenge) back in July... so I'm finally getting around to it.  I love reading her blog, about life in the City of Brotherly Love, as a working mum to three beautiful kids, and just reflections on life in general.  Please check her out-- you won't regret it! 

Here's what you have to do: First, you have to tell your readers 10 things about you they may not already know, but are true. Second, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Third, you have to let the people you've given the award to, know that they've received this award from you. Finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you.

Trying to think of ten things most of my readers might not know is actually harder than it seems, because most of you are people who actually know me, and have known me for a while.  But here goes anyway.

1.  I am not easily angered, but I am easily annoyed.  Some of you may have known this for a long time, but it's just recently come to my own attention.  I get frustrated with little things, vent about it, fume a few minutes, and then it's over.  I think this can make some people a little annoyed with me, but I think it's better than having a bad temper.  It takes a lot to get me really angry;  I think easily annoyed is much better than easily angered.  I hope so, anyway... 

2.  I am a huge Beatles fan.  I can remember singing along as a kid while my dad played Beatles songs on his guitar;  I got through junior high by playing through album after album on my record player while I did my homework;  and I saw Paul McCartney in concert--twice--in one year.  I. Love. The. Beatles.  I have a couple of friends with whom I bonded largely over the Beatles.  One year for Hallowe'en, my best friend and I dressed up as Ringo (she was a drummer) and Paul (my favourite Beatle).  I wear my watch on my right hand because I noticed (also in junior high) that Paul did.  I could give up every other kind of music, as long as I could keep theirs.  *sigh*  I've often thought I was born too late.... =)

3.  I think I am a big city girl, which is strange, since I didn't grow up in a big city.  I love living in the middle of it all.  I've discovered this about myself living in Aberdeen, and visiting other big cities (Paris, Vladimir, Ramallah, Edinburgh, London...).  I either want to be right in the thick of it, or in the middle of nowhere (but with a car to be able to get into the city). 

4.  I have to write things down or I'll forget them.  This isn't about getting old, and it's not a recent development-- I've been this way as long as I can remember.  Whether it's phone numbers or class notes or birthdays or shopping lists, if I don't write it down, it might as well not exist.  That's me: list-maker.

5.  Speaking of writing things down, I love my penmanship.  Perhaps that is conceited, but it's true.  I have very readable handwriting, and it can be very lovely.  I would love to learn calligraphy, but even if I never do, I'll still be happy with my writing.  I have, for as long as I've known how to write, been changing and perfecting it, to make it exactly like I want it (which is, these days, in an 'old-fashioned' style). 

6.  I will nearly always root for the underdog. 

7.  Even though I am a big city girl, I am, at the same time, a homebody.  Is that a contradiction or what?!  Seriously, though, I could quite happily stay in for days at a time... and I have.  As long as I have food and drink, a good book, some dvds, and my computer, I am quite happy.  =)

8.  I hate romantic comedies and most chic-flicks.  I don't buy the argument that they are the modern equivalent of fairy tales;  for me, they are deceitful and give too many girls too many unrealistic expectations of relationships.  I just don't find them fun typically-- I get annoyed, or disgusted, or just plain sad at the characters and the lives they promote.  There is an odd one that I don't mind, but I'd prefer a good horror film anyday. 

9.  I don't know what I think about ghosts and paranormal stuff, but I love it.  Whatever it is, there is more out there than we can see or understand, and I. Love. It.  Ghost stories, scary films, Hallowe'en, all of it.  If it's creepy, I'll take it.  ;)

10.  I often wonder if I'm too selfishly independent to be any good in a relationship any more.  Part of me really wants to be married and have kids and all that eventually, but mostly I am quite happy to be single right now and doing what I'm doing.  Eating what I want and when I want, spending what I want on what I want, going where I want without having to take anyone else into consideration... I'm loving being a singleton thirty-something gal!  So, I think it'd take some pretty amazing guy to make me actually give this up... or pretty amazing in putting up with me despite it all. 

Right.  So there you have it.  Here are my ten tags:
Amanda at the front lawn
Barb at Barb's Wire
Dan and Nancy Erickson
Amy at Everyday in Atlanta G-A
Heidi at Farmyard Tales
Maggie at It's Good To Want Things
Abson and Lara at Joseph's Journal
Jen at Learning to Adjust
Paige at pMed's WeeBlog
Jody at the stay-at-home apologist

And anyone else who wants to take the award and play by the rules, please do! 

No Day But Today

Have I mentioned that I have a great flatmate?  =D

For my birthday, Kenny got me a fabulous gift:  tickets for us to go see a local production of RENT!  It wasn't until June, so I had a good amount of time to look forward to it.  Finally, the night arrived...

I got all dressed up (well, a wee bit dressed up, anyway) and we walked down to the Arts Centre, enjoying the warm summer evening.  We had seats in the third row, and settled in.  I was so excited, almost as much because Kenny had never seen RENT before.  I hoped he'd like it.  He did.  =)

It was an amateur show, with a cast of kids who looked like early twenties uni students.  There were some issues with the sound (we couldn't hear Roger during most of the opening two songs), and there were some issues with the singing (some of the cast were, um, not the best). But it is a great show, and it made me happy to see it on stage again. 

If you want to know the details, here they are.  If not, feel free to skip my critique.  Mark was a fine singer, but a terrible actor.  Both Roger and Mimi were quite good, and the only characters that didn't feel like amateur attempts.  Joanne was so-so;  Maureen had the proper spirit but wasn't a great singer.  Angel was pretty good, although a wee bit too much over-the-top, I thought.  Collins was not great, which was disappointing to me, as he's one of my favourite characters.  Benny was fairly bad, actually, both acting and singing.  And most of the background characters (who double as several different people throughout) ranged from pretty good to cringe-worthy.  But they all were obviously having fun.  The weirdest thing to me was that every single cast member was white.  Not just white, but really white.  Somehow, it just doesn't quite work as well that way.  It was quite distracting to me, honestly.  Overall, though, I really did enjoy getting to see it, and see it with Kenny. 

After the show, we headed out to Thistle Street to find the elusive Baskin-Robbins.  We finally did find it, parked the car, and started walking back to the store.  When we'd driven by looking for parking, all the lights were on and people were purchasing goodies.  By the time we parked and walked half way back to it, the sign light went off.  The door got locked.  We were out of luck.  It was quite disappointing, really.  I mean, we were right there!  Next time, I guess. 

If you aren't familiar with RENT, I want to highly encourage you to check it out.  In 2005 they made a very good film adaptation of it, featuring most of the original Broadway cast.  Be warned, though:  it is a bit risque at times, many of the characters in it are homosexual, and it deals with other difficult issues such as drug use, AIDS, and homelessness.  It is, all in all, one of my favourite musicals.  The cast, the score, the lyrics, the staging, the issues-- it's brilliant.  It makes me laugh and cry and love. It reminds me that family isn't just biological, and that every moment matters.  It inspires me to be fully in the moment, to be fully in community, to be fully all that I am created by God to be.  It is amazing, and I hope you will watch it, if you haven't already.  I'd love to hear what you think about it. 

Thanks, Kenny, for such a great birthday gift!  You know me so well, and are such an insightful gift-giver.  I am blessed to have you for a flatmate! 

Cinco de Drinko

Now this is going back a ways... all the way to 5/5. Anyone know what day that is?

Cinco de Mayo! And... my birthday! (Many thanks to Jill for the superb title idea!)

For my birthday, I wanted mexican food. I mean, really, REALLY wanted mexican food. But you can't get mexican food in Aberdeen. Not the good kind, anyway. You can get fajitas that taste like barbeque, and guacamole in a jar, and refills on chips and salsa only if you beg... but that's not quite the same. So my friend Carrie offered to host my birthday get-together and cook some homemade mexican food! Woo-hoo! In return, I was bringing the mixings for margaritas... from scratch. You also can't get the mix here. Oh well. It was going to be delish!

Sadly, on the day, Carrie was sick. I was bummed. Poor Carrie! Poor me! ;) But she sent my delicious homemade chocolate birthday cake into town with Scot, and Liz and I picked it up at Starbucks. Then Liz, Paige, RitaBekah and I met up at my flat to celebrate instead. We opted to order in, and got chinese (right, girls? Am I remembering that right?) from a place pretty close by. It took more than an hour to arrive. Not cool, people. And then, even though we'd all ordered mild dishes, they were killer spicy. Again, not cool. *sigh* But the cake? Wonderful. With a nice chili kick (not as spicy as the chinese food, though), and homemade whipped cream on top. Bonus!

And the margaritas? Oh, yum. I have never made them from scratch before, but oooohhhh, boy, were they good! At least I thought so. And really, I'm the one who matters. At least on my birthday.

So what do you get when you add theologians and tequila? Lots of laughs. It was great. I got gifts, too-- chocolate and gift cards and photo books and reading books and all kinds of goodies. Plus, I got to celebrate with some of my great friends in Aberdeen. All in all, a very good day.

 

Thank you to everyone who sent cards or gifts or cakes, and to everyone who called or emailed or facebooked me birthday wishes, and especially to everyone who celebrated with me.  You know who you are, and so do I.  Thank you!  =D

Playing Catch-Up

A lot has happened since my last real post, back in early May. Things I've wanted to share and just haven't had the energy to write about. In the weeks coming, I promise I will catch back up on the many events that I have taken part in. If I say that here, then y'all will be looking for them and I'll have to stick to my promise and make good. Hold me accountable... if you want to know what's been going on, anyway. Otherwise, let me keep slacking. =)

Just to whet your appetite, to keep you checking back, here are some of the highlights to come (the list is in no particular order, because I don't have my diary handy, but the posts will be in chronological order):

~my birthday
~Aboyne Highland Games
~Harry Potter
~tattoos!
~a day in Banchory
~Abson and Lara's visit
~fun nights with friends
~U2!!

So, for now, just know that I have good intentions of posting about all these things and more. Thanks for sticking with me!

An Open Apology

I just sent the following email around to everyone in my address book, but since I know there are folks who stop by here but aren't on my list, and I also know that my address book may be out of date, AND because this'll repost on Facebook for those friends there, as well... I'm reposting. =)

Hi, family and friends,

I have been meaning to and trying to write this email for ages, but it just hasn't gotten done. Til today. Obviously. =)

I want to apologise for being such rubbish at keeping in touch the past, oh, year or so. As some of you know from experience, being a PhD student is hard in ways that I never anticipated. The stress is incredible. As much as I love being in Aberdeen (and I truly do), it's hard to be here away from all y'all, especially when life is a revolving door of relationships here. I have been blessed by the people I have known, and am blessed by the people I'm getting to know now... but it's still hard. Some of you also will know that I've had some random health issues over the past three or four years that have left me exhausted pretty much all the time. My GP (I have a new one now) is trying to finally work out what's causing my tiredness, which makes it hard for me to focus in order to get work done. Hopefully we'll get that sorted soon, as I am dead tired of being dead tired. =)

In addition to all of that, it has been emotionally a horrible year. I don't want to go into it, but it has been hard on me. I am still trying to figure out how to deal with all that junk, and my defense mechanism when I get depressed is to withdraw into myself. Hence the reason you haven't heard from me in so long. It's counter-productive, really, as the times I'm blue are when I most need my family and friends, people who know me, around. But that's what happens, and I lose all motivation to actually call or write. I have great intentions, and it stays on my to-do list, but I just can't muster up the energy to actually do it. That has, for the past year, also included working on my thesis. I have very little to show for the past year, but have graciously been granted a year's extension to finish. By May 2010, one way or another, I'll be done. Thank goodness.

So. That's me in a nutshell right now. I am leaving this afternoon to go to Dublin for the weekend with a new friend, Paige. We're seeing U2 tomorrow night, and I am so excited! I decided that before I headed out, I WOULD write to everyone and apologise for being pretty much non-existant for the past long while. There are reasons, but no good excuses. I miss y'all, and think of you often, and would love to hear from you. And I'll try to do better about keeping in touch.

Yours Truly,
amie
xx


PS-- I hope I haven't missed someone. If you happen to know of someone who might wonder where I've been for the past forever, please feel free to share this with them. =)