Catch Up Corner

Whew, it's been a while. The last 6 weeks have be CRAY-ZAY. Upon my return from my trip to the US in December/January I hit the ground running. There were birthdays to be celebrated (4 to be exact), meetings to be planned, Mardi Gras to be celebrated, ceilidh (k-lee) dancing to be had, runs to be done, volunteering to be started and of course my daily job duties as housewife. So, needless to say, blogging took a back seat to my life but I'm here to catch you up on all. So, grab some coffee (or a tottie) while I highlight the last 6+ weeks.

Late December 2012-Early January 2013

I went back to the US for a few very special events. My cousin, Trey, got married on a beautiful plantation in North Florida. Trey and I are only 4 months apart and basically grew up like brother and sister so, I never thought his wedding would be the first time I would meet his future wife. My moving overseas and us Trey being all grown up with a job (and living in Georgia) and all makes it more challenging to see each other when I'm in the US. However, when I met Lauren, it was like I'd known her forever and I knew they were perfect for each other. The wedding weekend was so much fun. It relaxing time with my family celebrating an amazing couple.

The beautiful chapel

The sweet couple

My next stop was to Houston where it was birthday celebration time!! My friends, Courtney, turned 30 on December 13, Laura on January 7 and me on January 21st. When I found I was going to be in town the weekend of Laura's birthday, I knew we had to try and get a celebration with us all! Court came down from Dallas and my friends, Kasey, Meredith and Faye, came in from Austin and Fort Worth. And not to mention, some of my Aberdeen girls were still in town from Christmas and they came and celebrated too! Court, Laura and I had massages at the Houstonian on Friday afternoon and then Saturday we started with a big group dinner at Colina's in the Heights before trying out the new wine bar, Crisp, and ending the night dancing away at Rebels. It's very rare that we get to celebrate our birthdays together with us scattered all over so this was an extra special treat for our 30ths!

 My last weekend in Houston, Ryan flew in from Aberdeen for our good friend, Clent's, wedding. It was another special day celebrating a very special couple. Ryan was in the wedding supporting one of his closest friends on his big day. It's usually me in the weddings so it was fun to be on the other side. I, unfortunately, didn't get many pictures, I was too busy chowing down on delicious Texas BBQ, gabbing and two steppin'.

January

I got back to Aberdeen and was welcomed with a fresh blanket of snow. My flight was delayed about 30 minutes because we had to wait for it to stop snowing(and the airport to open back up) before we could land. This was just the beginning of two weeks of non stop snow. It started to wear on me towards the end but Angus and I got some really good, snowy walks in none the less. He loves a snow ball fight and it's so funny to watch him try to get the snow ball in his mouth.

Flying over the Cairngorms into Aberdeen

On the 21st, I turned the big 3-0. I had a wonderful dinner with all the girls at my favorite Thai restaurant. Ryan was still in Houston for meetings but all my girls made sure my day was special!

On the 23rd, Ryan and I celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss (<-----hehe, bliss). It hasn't all been bliss but I wouldn't change it for the world. It's crazy to think we've already been married 3 years and have lived in two different countries. Lots of learning and loving goes on when you have to do so much adjusting and depending. Because he was in Houston we just exchanged sweet cards to each other to mark the occasion. We have lots of travel planned this year so I don't feel like I need a special anniversary trip, all of our trips are special! (<----cheesy? yes!)

February 1st-2nd

My dear friend, Kristin Jorene, turned the big 3-0 and we marked the day, the Bristish way with a lovely high tea at Rosie's on Thistle.

That night several of us headed to the Chevron Burns' Supper to celebrate the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns. It's a big deal in Scotland and everyone gets decked out in their best smartest dress, dines on traditional Scottish fare of haggis, neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes) and ceilidh dances the night away. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad we got to attend one of these and very pleased to see my hubby in a kilt!

The next night was the Totally 80s 30th Birthday Bash celebrating myself, Kristin, Debbie and Pam. We all turn(ed) 30 within a few weeks of each other and we thought it best to have one big bash! We started the night at Debbie's with a totally 80s birthday party complete with pizza, cupcakes and candy....just like when we were kids! We then headed out to Nox, a new night club in Aberdeen, to show off our best robot, shopping cart and Roger Rabbit dance moves. Other than a hiccup at Nox with the bouncers it was a fun night!

Don Johnson and Rainbow Brite

3 of 4 Birthday girls; me, Debbie, Pam

February 8th-9th

Debbie's official birthday was the 9th and since the AWA was throwing her a big Mardi Gras party in honor of it, we figured we would have a little girls' day on Friday. We went to Jo Malone's (an upscale fragrance store) for hand/arm massages and champagne before heading to Bistro Verde for a delicious lunch!

As stated above, Saturday night was the official AWA Mardi Gras party. It's the best party of the year and how convienent for it to be on Debbie's birthday. There was delicious Cajun food, dancing and Debbie was named Mardi Gras Queen and coincidentally, her hubby Luke, the king! How fun, not only because it was Debbie's birthday but because they're moving to Londonand this could have been their first and last Mardi Gras! They did a great shop tossing the beads, leading the 2nd line and wearing those big 'ol headdresses!

Whew, that's a lot and if you made it to the end of this post, I'll give you an "attagirl/boy"! Look out for a post about my delicious Valentine's meal for hubby, our trip to Edinburgh with the Buissons, hiking Bennachie and my marathon training soon! Thanks for catching up with me and I hope I don't ever get that far behind again!