She Works Hard For the Money

Well, just a kind of hard. I'm blessed to only have to work 2 days a week so that I can maintain all of my other social/volunteer activities. My only 'sacrifice' was stepping down as leader of AWA Explorers' Hiking group because the hiking day conflicted with one of my working days. I knew something was going to have to give :)

As most of you know, working in the UK has been a long time coming. After about 8 months, I was finally approved to work in the UK last September. After halfheartedly looking for a job at the end of last year and not coming up with anything, I kind of put it on the back burner. I had found a life outside of work and I wasn't, at the time, missing it. I mean only a few of my friends here in Aberdeen work outside the home and I jumped two feet in to the AWA and it was/is doing a fine job of filling my free time. And then the beginning of the year rolled around and I was traveling, then Ryan broke his leg which was not the time for me to have a job since my title of housewife quickly turned to caregiver/personal/at home physiotherapist. Then Ryan's leg got better and our summer full of visitors began. I was/am thankful I was able to devote 100% of my time to showing my in laws, friends and parents around this beautiful country. So what I'm trying to say, is that it really hasn't been the right time for me to return to work til now. I know it's cliche but I do believe 'timing is everything'.

I started the job search again right before I went on my trip with Kasey. I had heard great things about a Sports Med Physio Clinic located in Aberdeen Sports Village by word of mouth and by doing my own research so I thought 'what the heck', let me just drop off my resume/CV. Well the day I dropped my resume off one of the owners was there and she mentioned they were in need of a part time therapist and she would put me in touch with the other owner over the Sports Med/Musculoskeletal side of things. I met her for coffee upon my return from London/Paris and I knew after talking with her that this opportunity was exactly what I was looking for. I shadowed a few therapists just to get my brain working again, it had been almost 2 years since I'd seen a patient in the clinic (where does the time go??), and a couple of weeks later was seeing my own patients. I've been seeing patients now for over a month and I'm loving it. Everyone I work with has been great and all the patients are so nice. The clinic is a perfect learning environment for any therapist but especially for one that's been out of the game for a while. I'm looking forward to growing as a therapist and working with such a great team. Being in the UK, the opportunity for continuing education is much great than that in Singapore. I'm very thankful for this opportunity and most likely it means this blog will suffer. As soon as I learn that whole time management thing again I hope to post more regularly as I'm still doing lots of fun things! Hopefully a post on my Poland trip will come sooner than later!

Lately....

So, the last couple of months have been a little crazy. My duties as AWA President have commenced, I've hosted/thrown a baby shower, I've started a new job, hosted Debbie in Aberdeen, said 'see ya later' to my dear friend, Nary, took a trip to Poland for a girls' week and somewhere in between I've gotten outside to enjoy the beautiful autumn colors. I've been pretty much non stop since my parents were here in August and I think things are starting to slow down a bit or at least I hope so! Here are some pictures from the last couple of months.

AWA September General Meeting-we started off on a fun note! The Aberdeen AWA is such a great organization and I am truly blessed to be surrounded by these women, my time in Aberdeen wouldn't be nearly as much fun without them!

Loch Kinord-we had one last summer day in mid September and we took advantage by doing the  loop around Loch Kinord. It was such a gorgeous day!

Hill of Fare Hike- I was leading the AWA Explorers' Hiking Group until I took a part time job. This was our first hike. I pre-walked it and had perfect weather unfortunately, the day I took the group out was a steady down pour and no stunning views but we had fun anyway!

Shower for Baby Perry-had such a fun time helping host Laine a baby shower. Baby Perry aka Forest, is finally here and I'm dying to meet him! 

Week with Debbie- Luke was traveling so Debbie decided to come spend the week in the 'Deen. We managed to get in two runs (one in the rain, one in the freezing), hiking, book club, a castle, mahjong and our favorite, tea time in the afternoon. I miss my buddy!

Craigevar Castle

Bye Bye to Nary and Gerald-we had a fun but emotional week sending these two off to California for their next assignment. Their smiles, laughs and kindness are contagious and I miss them so much already especially my go to girl, Nary. California, take care of them!!

Okay, I think that catches us up to present day. Look out for a post on my new job and Poland soon!!!!

Paris in Pictures (and a few words, too)

Kasey and I head to Paris on the Eurostar Train that goes from London to Paris through the Chunnel. My friend, Debbie, did a great post about taking Eurostar, check it out! My brief overview, London station nicer than Paris, security was quick (we went and returned on off days though) both trains on time, trains were clean, and I would definitely do it again!

We arrived in Paris late on Tuesday evening so decided to forgo any touristy stuff and headed down the street to find pizza and wine :) We were staying close to Bastille which is known for it's great neighborhood restaurants. We quickly found our spot and enjoyed our first European pizza (my fave) and bottle of French wine. Yummo!!

Wednesday morning we got up early for a run to Luxembourg Gardens which was about 5 miles round trip. I love running through new cities especially when it's with my favorite workout/running buddy! You never get bored with all of the new things to see. It was an absolutley beautiful morning in Paris!

Notre Dame in the distance

After fueling up on French pastries we headed out for the day to cover day 1 of our fast and furious tour through Paris. I think we covered a lot!!

Notre Dame

Monmartre/Sacre Coeur: Loved this area, would like to spend more time here next trip!

Sacre Coeur

Our first macarons of the trip!

Eiffel Tower: As amazing as I imagined and then some.

Cafes': This was just one of many we popped in throughout our trip but probably my favorite. I wish I could remember the name. In the area of the Eiffel Tower.

Best caprese ever!

Hanging out on the Eiffel Tower Lawn: It's cliche, yes, but it's probably one of the coolest things I've ever done! One of those things you only see in movies for so long and then to see it in real life and it's everything you imagined!

Fat Tire Bike Tour: yep, we did another Fat Tire Bike Tour! It was great and included a river cruise and wine. What can beat that!?! Paris is known as being the City of Lights and what a great way to it!

Stop for the famous Berthillon ice cream!

The Louvre at Night

Every hour she turns on her dazzle lights for 10 minutes

Day 2 started with crepes before we made our way to Sainte Chapelle, The Louvre and Champs-Elysees.

Sainte Chapelle: other than the Eiffel Tower, hands down my favorite thing we saw in Paris. It's a small chapel with 13 sets of stain glass panels each telling the story of the books in the bible. It is truly amazing. They were unfortunately doing some cleaning of the windows to one side so I couldn't get a panoramic.

Pont Neuf: The oldest bridge in Paris. Each face has a difference expression.

The Louvre at daytime. We payed the 12 euros to go inside. We basically just wanted to see the Mona Lisa which is not worth 12 euros to see but we can say we did it. The Louvre is worth a stop in without paying. It's a pretty magnificent building and if art is your thing you could probably spend days in there!

Laduree Paris' famous macaron shop. Worth. every. penny.

Arc de triomphe: In 1806, just after the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon I declared to his soldiers, "you will march home through arches of victory". The monument was to dominate Paris and indulge the Emperor's liking for Ancient Rome. (info from brochure I picked up at arc)

Kasey and I decided to climb to the top to get a panoramic view of Paris. There are 284 steps to get to the top!

And that pretty much wraps up Paris and our London-Paris adventure. So thankful for friends that will come thousands of miles to come see me with the added bonus of seeing the world! We had a blast and we were already planning our next trip, we're thinking Spain in March!