BIG Request for Prayer!

Hello friends! I'm about to embark on a crazy journey. My friend Anna and I are about to leave (monday morning at 5.30 to be exact) for a trip to the continent! We are flying into Amsterdam, and from there onward via train to Brussels, Berlin, and finally Switzerland! I am very excited (while a tab nervouex) as this is a very big girl sort of thing to do. I would love prayer for a safe travel and also that we would have a fabulous time together.

thanks lovelies!

It's a God thing!

You see that sweet little doorway? Yeah, the one with the window looking out into the hallway. Well my friends, that happens to be my new room. "New room?", you ask. Yeah, remember at the beginning of the year when I wrote about my struggle to accept my living arrangement, (if you forgot, see picture of scary modern building below). Well last week I got a call saying that not only had my request (from over a month ago) for a new room come through, but that they had found me a single in McIntosh hall (my first choice, center of town, gorgeous, historic, perfect hall)!

I had completely accepted that I was going to be in Andrew Melville hall for the year. I had gotten used to the 1/2 hour walk to class everyday, and really started to click with my neighbors. It was the moment that I had let go that my circumstances changed.

This dorm is incredible. Right in the middle of town. St. Andrews consists of three major streets and McIntosh is in the center of them. The building looks like what I image to be Lord Peter's flat at Piccadilly.

(Take note...I was having issues loading up my own pictures, thus I got this image from the internet...from this picture you can see my room window, third from the right of the door on the ground floor. Craziness!)



Funny thing is, I really struggled with deciding whether or not to move. It seemed to good to be true...I guess it was hard to trust that maybe God just wanted to bless me with something that was over the top amazing.

And guys, this place is over the top. All I can say is "High ceilings Warren".

So take a good look at the picture to the left. You see that cabinet looking thing? It's a built in glass china case. Could it get more outrageous? Or more Perfect!!?!

This hall used to be an old hotel, and my room abuts the old reception desk, hence the window into the hallway. So I have this little closet that has a window and hatch, which used to welcome the hotel guests.

In the picture to the right you can see the door to the reception room. I don't have a good picture of that little room yet, but you can look above 'My Wellies' to see a detail of the door.

Not only is the locale fabulous, the room gorgeous, and the hall better than anything you can image, but my room is two (count them, two) doors down from Allison's!! Yes, Allison!! The first girl I met during orientation who I bonded with over God convo's!!

God is truly amazing...I can't praise Him enough. I don't deserve any of this, but He gave it and more to me anyways! How can I ever doubt his plan for me?

Toastie Bar!

So...what is there to do on a Friday night in the quaint town of St. Andrews? Clearly, the Toastie Bar.

For those of you who don't have the elite pleasure of knowing what a toastie is, well don't fear. The toastie is a quality British favorite. Not unlike the famous 'John Headland Waffle Iron Sandwich' the toastie involves white bread, smothered on the outside with butter, filled with various surprises and then thrown into the toastie grill, where the separate pieces that create the sandwich are then congealed into a solid form. It is heavenly!

Last night, I went to a brilliant meeting at the Christian Union. A man speaking was a guest from New Zealand who had attended St. Andrews as an undergrad about 10 years ago. His talk was moving. I won't go into full details, but at one point he addressed the christian students in the crowd and pleaded 'do not kid yourselves, this life is not about your comfort. Don't miss God's purpose' or at least something like that. I really felt like it was addressing me. I have been more and more desparate to understand the reality that it is not about me.

Thus, you won't be surprised that I then spent the rest of the evening (till past 2am) cooking toasties for crazy drunk students who were out partying last night. The best way to think of the toastie Bar is as a soup kitchen for drunk people. The hope is that by cooking these kids good food...which they are desperate for after a night of drinks...we might be able to strike up a few good conversations.

I had a blast.

My Highland Tour!

Ohh, the highlands! You can't imagine them till you see them for yourself. This past weekend I went on a tour of the upper country of Scotland. What a joy to see a terrain so different from anything else I have every experienced! Much of the weekend we were in a coach bus. Being on the road brought back so many memories of the road trips of my childhood. All the Headlands would pile into our station wagon and drive to the Shenandoah mountains, gazing at the countryside as George Winston's December played reflectively in the background. This weekend, I also listened to December (I was cheating since it is an old family rule that December can't be played until after Halloween). At first, driving through the highlands only made me miss home, and the joy of sharing Fall with the people who share the same passion for it as myself. But after a while looking at the land which was so undeniably different from any that I have seen I realized that God has limitless passions and joys that He wants me to experience just between the two of us. In that way I will find a new experience of security and beauty that is just between me and God, creating a truer bond between us, even truer than the bond I have with my family.

The first day out, we had the opportunity to watch a Shepherd herd sheep with his sheep dogs! It was incredible! You can't imagine the loyalty and obedience of these dogs. All the tourists would try to get the attention of the dogs through whistles and kissing noises, yet they would not flinch. They only heard the Shepherd's voice.

To the left you see me trying my hand at sheering sheep. What a natural! I went ahead and got the Wellie's I've been dreaming about over the weekend because I've decided when I become the Lady of the manor, sheering sheep will be one of my favorite pastimes, and a proper set of green wellies will be an intergral part of that experience!

During the tour I had the pleasure of sharing a room with 5 other fabulous girls! We all shared a love of travel, dorky behavior, and a proper night of sleep! We were laughing the entire weekend. On the far right you can see Allison (my roomate from orientation who I talked about! A fellow lover of Jack Lewis, and Oswald!)

And here I am out in front of my future home!

Scone palace was wonderful! There we watched a falconry display and viewed the Stone of Scone where the Kings of England were crowned! I think I fit in pretty well if I do say so myself!

Below you see me on top of Perth mountain. It's the highest spot in the UK! We took the funicular railway (which unlike Gondola's has no ice picks), and when at the top of the mountain enjoyed a splendid cuppa hot coco!

This picture cannot capture the absolute splendor of the peaks! The view was to die for.

On our second day we took a tour of a whiskey distillery. This picture is about two seconds before I took my first (and last) sip of whiskey. The picture of that isn't so pretty.

On our final day we took a boat ride on Loch Ness in hopes that we would be the ones to find Nessie! And though I may not be a cryptozoologist I think I have the best proof yet! (see image below to locate Nessie!)

Take that Sasquatch!

Thanks so much for reading! I must go write a huge essay on ancient Anglo-Saxon archeology! Any prayers would be greatly appreciated!

lots of love...

and cheers!

The Opening Ball

The Opening Ball. What a beautiful tradition here in St. Andrews. Last night I attended the Kate Kennedy Charity Opening Ball with two other girls. The Kate Kennedy Club is a society of the sixty most elite boys in the Uni (university) and has been around since 1926. They throw a ball every October to mark the beginning of the social year here at St. Andrews.

Just picture the scene. We walk towards St. Salvators Quad. At the entrance of the ancient stone archway are bagpipers beckoning students to enter. Once in the Quad you walk past fire jugglers and various KK members (I don't think the Brits see the issue with this abbreviation) who are all dressed in full Kilt attire. The Quad is lit up with yellow search and blue flood lights. And this is all before you have even entered the Ball floor.

As we entered the Ball tent each lady was handed a white rose and every guest a glass of Champagne. The Tent, covered in roses, balloons, and lights, was also filled to the brim with students, all in their very finest attire.

Ok now. Onto reality. Although the ladies are in ball gowns, and the gents in kilted suits, we are still the youth of the 21st century. We might be surrounded by ancient ruins, be at the University of Princes, and hear the faint groan of bagpipes, but lets not forget to prove that in the new millennium entry into adulthood (and the according behavior) doesn't happen until at least the age of 35! (see picture of dancing kilts)

That being said, it was a fabulous night. I had one heck of a time with my new friends (Allison and Emily). We danced the night away in good fashion, and ended the evening with the ceremonial (and experimental) tasting of a Scottish delicacy, namely the deep fried mars bar!

Thanks for reading...more soon to come.

Cheers!

Hey-a! It's been a few days since I've written anything, but only a few months worth of events have occured in that time! This past week it seems all the events on campus have started. I have now attended both of my classes (I only have two, and this is a full schedule!) and they seem wonderful. I'm taking Medeival History (History and Legend is Sub-Roman Britain) and English Lit (Revolution and Romanticism). I have also in the past week been joining various sports clubs and social societies, such as football (soccer), and most excting the riding team (check out the link it's ridiculous http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~riding/). And I had some very exciting news! I made The St. Salvator's chapel choir! This choir sings at all the major university events, every Sunday at the University chapel service, various weddings, and best of all I get to wear my red robe (officially called a gown) for all our performances!

I desperately want to keep writing but I must run along to class! I will write more soon I promise!

cheers!

Settling into St.A's

Hello, or Hey-a as the Scots say! So I'm finally settling into St. Andrews. I have been here at the University since last Saturday...but with the roller coaster the adjustment has been it feels like a year has past since I got here.





When I first arrived in Scotland I stayed in Edinburgh for a few days of orientation. I actually didn't realize this way part of the schedule (here pronounced Shhh-edule), but I'm so thankful that my program gave me a few days of rest in that glorious city. From the get-go I knew God's hand was on me. I walked into my hotel room, exhausted and disoriented, to the welcoming regards of my roommate for orientation Allison. Allison, it ends up, is a dedicated Christian who is studying abroad for the semester. I also was welcomed by the view you see posted up above. My room looked out to the Castle of Edinburgh, right in the center of the city! Orientation was a load of fun. One of the highlights however was that each night ended with a discussion and prayer between my roommate and I!

However, things got a bit complicated once I got to St. Andrews. The picture you see above is Andrew Melville Hall. As we approached the gorgeous and Medieval City of St. Andrews, I was over joyed all up until the moment I realized this architectural wonder was the location where I would reside. My fears were further realized when 'quelle horreur' I found that my room was on the base floor of the building! I had nothing near the promised view of the ocean, and was practically assigned to the basement.

To be perfectly serious, I was really put off by my housing assignment. For a few days, it left me feeling helpless, alone, and homesick. But through various events, and conversations I made peace with my situation. The event left me feeling, what I now am seeing as truth, that God's plan is very different from our own. I had many ideas of what this trip would be...God is showing me that He has some ideas of His own. While this may sound somewhat somber it isn't. My realization that God has a plan in mind that greatly differs from my own actually fills me with peace and freedom.

Until next time...Cheers!

note- 'cheers' is the final word of every Scottish sentence.

Last few days

For many people the acts of cleaning and organization are tedious processes. For me they bring peaceful monotony and the whimsical illusion of control. Packing seems to stimulates a similar vein of my OCD and thus, is a great joy of mine.

The past few days I have been totally dedicated to packing for my year long trip to Scotland. It has been such a joy to lay out sweaters and blazers, line up boots and loafers, and all the other essential articles that will accompany me to St. Andrews. This job, I might add, has been no small feat. It involves me, a blond kleptomaniac, collecting everything she will need to wear, use, and own for the next year and place it inside two Samsonite suitcases, neither of which can weigh more than 50 pounds. Luckily I have Julie Headland (aka Super Mom), and the staff of JCrew to help me.

All humor aside I am almost done packing. I'm actually not bringing half of what you would imagine (or maybe that still means double what you imagine b/c this is me). The next few days I will be running around quaint Westport seeking out my last purchases, such as power converters, internet cables, and hopefully a good book on etiquette . My flight is on Tuesday night...which seems like both a blink and a year away.

My Prayer right now is that the remanding time with Mom would be sweet, and that God would be preparing my heart for this nearing adventure! Till next time....