It's about time!

Yes, I am aware that it's been awhile, but let's not dwell on the past...it's time to embrace the present!

Here's the present:

That's right, I am in a new house! I like to call it the Newmarket House, it has a very nice to ring to it I think. The middle window belongs to my bedroom, and every morning when I wake up, I can look out that window and see the sea! My house is right outside a town called Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. So far I have not experienced much culture shock, but it is still looming in the distance. The only real disappointments have been the absence of Miracle Whip at the local store (which was lately remedied by a sweet Texan family), and of REAL Pepsi. The Pepsi here tastes like Coke...yuck. However, these two problems seem rather insignificant when I walk across my room and see this...


But what am I saying? This is already the past! I'm actually now in Amsterdam and have been for about a week now. I'm here for training, and am loving almost every minute of it. I'm not so excited about my kitchen duty everyday, but hey, it's worth it!

Here's some pics from my current location...






So far I love Amsterdam and I'm so happy to be here! It's definitely a new experience, but I still can't believe that I'm here. Training is pretty intense and very time consuming, but everything I'm learning is so useful. Obviously I've had some time to get around. On Sunday I went with some new and wonderful friends to the Keukenhof Gardens outside the city, and it was the perfect day! I've never seen so many tulips in one place in my life!



Yes, life is sweet at the moment. Especially now, as I take a sip of the Pepsi that I just bought from the grocery store down the way...it actually tastes like REAL Pepsi! Hallelujah!

Watch out! Here I come!

Amazing news! My departure date is a week away, and I was getting pretty excited about it, but not nearly as excited as I am now that I knew my partner L has her visa! Yay!!!! It came incredibly fast, and is a definite answer to prayer!

I guess it's time to start packing now... I've been saying that for awhile, but today (with renewed enthusiam) I made up a real packing list and went shopping for my favorite supplies. My oh my does stuff add up, but I just know that when I'm over there and overwhelmed with culture shock, I'll be happy I've got my trusty favorites. I've still got to get my electronics all outfitted for overseas plug ins, etc. and I have a sneaking suspicion that those things will add up as well. Good thing I had that job for the past month and a half!

Scotland here I come!

Man alive do I have long fingers!

Say what?

My first day at my new job, I had been given instructions to take the company's only elevator to the fourth floor. Lucky for me, I didn't notice this sign right away and didn't finish it until I had made it safely.


Thanks to my trusty coworker for inconspicuously snapping this photo the other day! Hint hint...if you can't read it (if you can you must have a very large computer screen), click the pic and it will be big enough to read.

Me, a girly girl?

So, I've had these flowers for almost a week now, and every time I see them I smile! I've never been one of those girls that wants flowers, but I do believe I've been converted. Just look at these lovely flowers!


It's like my one personal spring in February! This afternoon, I re-trimmed the stems, changed the water AND used the second package of plant food! I've never actually used that stuff before...

Everything's temporary...

After weeks of job hunting, I finally found a job! Well...maybe it's not all that exciting after all. My new job basically consists of updating a spreadsheet everyday. E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y. But, it is a job and I'm thankful to be an upstanding citizen again. Despite the maddening monotony of my daily responsibilities, the job has turned out to be bearable largely due to an easy to get along with co-worker. I am an extrovert, and my first day I had been a little worried because my post is in a little office in the middle of a warehouse. There are two other people in my office, one of which is in and out all day. When I realized that I would be so far removed from the usual office environment, I was wondering if I would make it the full 2 weeks.

However, I am happy to report that I have just finished week 3 with my mental faculties intact, and am confident that I will make it through week 4. I will never underestimate the power of a friendship again!

My job has also introduced me to this beauty...the oldest microwave I have ever seen:


Any guesses on it's age?

Wishing...

Well the world is still slowly turning and yet another week has passed since I've been home. The job search is still in full force, but the future looks grim. It isn't exactly the busy season in this part of the country, and the economy could be better. Not to mention my agonizing past history of job hunting...it's not exactly the easiest thing for me to do. But I will continue on, unemployment is worse than job hunting.

I've been trying to keep up my spirits since being back from the farm, and some days are better than others, but lately the uncertainty of my future in Scotland has been distracting me a bit.

A New Year...New Plans

Yes, it's been awhile since I've updated, and yes plans have changed a bit. Even though my last post was pretty vague, it was probably pretty clear that I was waiting to see what plan B would look like. Well, here's plan B... I am back home, and will stay home a bit longer than I had planned. Scotland is now three months away instead of three days which stinks, but I am just thankful that as of now, I can still see it coming.

But three months? What in the world am I supposed to do for three months? Yes, I can hear everyone that has managed not to forget that I do occasionally blog telling me, "get a job!" Ugh, I know. I gave myself the holidays to pretend that I was just visiting and come Monday I will begin the ever thrilling job search.

However, even though my near future is looking pretty bleak to me, it's not all bad. Here's an example...take a look at this adorable little face...