It's been a while

Honestly I forget I have this blog sometimes and wonder what could I possibly say that I couldn't just say on our other blog? Probably not much, but I guess it is nice to be able to come back to this once in a while and do my own thing. So here I am. Things have been going well here and I often forget that we are actually living in Scotland because it just feels so normal to be here. Then I hear people talk and quickly remember how far from home we really are.

Derek and I are very much into a daily routine more than we ever have been before. It makes me laugh but truly I love it. Derek wakes up first in the morning and gets in the shower, when he is out of the shower I get up and take my shower. We go about our morning getting ready for the day (breakfast, coffee, packing a lunch, putting dishes away, getting dressed, etc) and then Derek takes off to walk to school and shortly after I leave to catch the bus to work. I am usually home by 5.00pm each day and try to get dinner started shortly after getting in. Derek comes home at 6.00pm and I like to try and have dinner ready by that time. We eat dinner together and Derek cleans up while I relax and watch TV or something. Then we either hang out and watch a movie or Derek will do school work and I will do my own thing. Lately we've been in bed around 10.00 or 11.00pm only to wake up and do it all over again. Simple, but it works for us.

I have to take minute to brag on my husband. He is so sweet and has just been so good to me. The other night he brought me flower and then made me dinner complete with wine. The next night he spoiled me with a foot rub after a long day of walking around town. He takes such good care of me and I feel like one lucky wife!

Work is going fairly well. Better and better it seems. I was having a hard time with it at first because I felt that the days were long (not enough to do) and I wasn't feeling challenged and was so cold that my fingers would go numb. But things are picking up and we got a space heater for me and I finally got my uniform as well. Which I think will help me feel more like part of the team. My work is picking up as I learn new things and figure out stuff I can do in the 'off' time of day. Hopefully things continue to pick up and get better and better. I have my one month review on Friday which will be a good opportunity to voice any concerns I am having with the job. I am praying for strength and clarity for that meeting, I think it should go well.

I am happy that we have been making friends fairly quickly and I am even starting a new 'girls group' with myself and 3 other girls here that I have met. Being a part of my Spouses group back in Vancouver was such a vital part of my life and I wanted to have something like that here. I know how important it is to have a group of girlfriends that you can just be yourself with and open up to. We have our first 'meeting' this Thursday and I am very much looking forward to getting to know these girls better.

I guess that is all I will share for now. I will try and keep this thing better updated as things arise (and once we have 'real' internet at home - one day).

It was only a matter of time

Well we made it to Scotland, the big wait is over, the adrenaline from travel and all things being new is starting to fade and life is becoming normal and routine all too quickly. It was only a matter of time until reality set in and feelings of loneliness and sadness began to hit. I think it came with Derek starting school as I no longer have him by my side to keep me company and distracted every day. At first, I kept myself busy setting up our new home and doing little things to get settled, but now as the house is feeling more comfortable and Derek is off at class most days and I don't have internet at home to keep caught up with my friends back home, the feelings are hitting harder than ever. I feel like I could break down any moment of any day. I miss home, I miss Vancouver, I miss my friends and my family and I long for the community we had when we lived in Canada. We really had something special and I miss that. Of course we all must move on but I just really appreciate that time in my life and the comfort and security that it brought me. Amazing memories that will always be with me and friendships that will never fade. I know that we will make friends here and it is only a mater of time until that happens, but I wonder if we will ever truly have what we had at Regent. I am obviously feeling rather nostalgic at the moment in my state of sadness, but that's alright. Point being is that I miss you all and hope to have some visitors soon (hint, hint). As we were moving out of Vancouver I found an old journal that I had started just as we moved there and began to read the only 2-3 pages I wrote in and I read that I was feeling the exact same sad and lonely feelings in the initial stages of living there. It kind of made me laugh to look back as I couldn't imagine that I had ever felt that way while living there. But I do know that it took until around December to start to find a real community and to discover what I really needed and desired for myself in a new place. So now the cycle starts over again in a new city, a new country.

What a depressing blog, sorry about that. Here is fun memory from Vancouver, the early days.

such a whirlwind

I am sitting on the floor at my friends Jess & Jeff's house in Chicago. The time is 11:44pm but my computer clock still says 9:44pm, it is 2 hours ahead here. My mind is in a fog as so much has happened the past few days. We have said goodbye to our family who were more emotional than I thought they would be and I can't help but feel guilty. We are in Chicago with our friends which we have been waiting for and which means that in a few days we will be in our new home in Scotland. It is pretty unbelievable. Looking back on all the goodbyes that we have literally been saying for about 5 weeks now, is all a blur. I know it will catch up and I can already start to feel my emotions getting stronger and I am not quite sure what to do with that at this point. We spent the evening reminiscing with the Reimers about time in Vancouver and all our amazing friends and I am aching for us all to be back together again. This time is exciting and I cannot wait to arrive in our new home and get settled, but it is also hard to leave behind the life that you have known.

But for now we will enjoy our stay in Chicago with Jess, Jeff & Charlie (he is so big you guys!).

new coat

Here is my new jacket! I love it. It is a basic black Marmot with a hood.





I'm ready for Scotland!

Lots

It's been a long time since I have written on this blog. You all probably already know that Derek and I started a new blog that will and does show the process of us leaving Vancouver, moving and then (soon) our life in Scotland. In case you don't know, that blog is: www.beingthebrowns.wordpress.com Check it out :)
I have been debating whether or not to keep posting on this blog or not. Any input? I go back and forth.
Since my last post, we have packed up our lives, sold most of our worldly possessions, left Vancouver and have spent the last 2 weeks visiting friends and family in Oregon. Leaving Vancouver was hard, harder than I thought it would be, but necessary in order to move on with life and proceed to the next big adventure. I miss my friends, I wish I were with them or could just go hang out with them. I hope they miss me too.
However, the past couple weeks in Oregon have been fantastic, there are details and pics on the other blog from a "brown" perspective, but I will give it to you from a "katie" perspective here. I was so excited for August to arrive because it would mean an entire month of no work, no commitments, mooching off my parents, etc. All good things. This has very well been the case but I have found myself so much busier than I imagined I would be. I pictured lazy days with nothing to do but lay in the sun and watch movies in the evenings. Turns out that when you are moving to a far away land, everyone wants some of your time, or as much time as you will give them. It has been great but exhausting for sure. It has been a difficult balance as I sometimes have to choose between friends and family and all I want to do is make everyone happy. I cannot complain though at all. I have been out to several (free) meals with my mom, drank lots of coffee at Backporch, spent a great 4 days in Eugene with my sister and seen 4 movies (Bourne, No Reservations, Ratatouille, Hairspray), I recommend them all. Yesterday I did get my dream and I laid by the pool for several hours with my friend Kari. It was amazing and I am happy to announce that I am not burned! Gotta love the SPF.
Amidst all this fun, Derek and I have been trying to get everything in order so that we can actually move to Scotland and wisely. Our visa applications are off and we hope to soon hear that we qualify and will be granted our Visas. We have also been trying to figure out how to do banking as we will need to have access (somehow) to a US dollar account, then get a UK account once we get there and we are also still juggling a Canadian bank account. It's complicated, but we're working it out. Lots of little details to figure out when moving to another country. But no worries, cause we have done it once before!
Today I am getting a very belated birthday gift from my parents in the form of a jacket from REI. I am very excited to go shopping this afternoon! Maybe I will have to post a picture of me in it :)

good times and sad times

What a weekend! It began Friday evening when we hung out with our dear friends Grace & Josh. We went out to a new pub, we had fun conversation, we played games and gifts were exchanged. This was good and sad times. Sad because as our friends were leaving for a 2 week long vacation, it was our last time to hang out while we all still resided in Vancouver. And though we know we will see them again (and their soon-to-be baby), we are not sure when this will be. We had such a blast hanging out with them and reminiscing about good times. They made us an amazing gift, a movie consisting of loads of pictures of our time in Vancouver as well as funny and sentimental words to us and for us. It was the greatest gift and I cannot wait to show you all. The time came to say our goodbyes at the end of the evening and though it still has not hit me, I know it was sad and hard and will only be more so as we make our departure from Vancouver.
However, more good times happened later that evening. I went with some of my girl friends to a Harry Potter release party! The 7th and final book was due to come out at midnight and we set out to wait in line and party with the Harry fans until midnight to get our book. The so-called party was pretty lame, but it was fun to go and be there and get the book when the clock struck 12:00. This was good and sad times. Sad because it is the final Harry Potter book and I can no longer look forward to the next release and though they are still making the movies, those are nothing in comparison to the books.
Saturday morning I rose excited to set out early to help my friend, Katie, set up for another friend, Ansley's, baby shower! I arrived around 9:30am (for the party was set to start at 11am) and we got to work preparing food and decor. About 10am we received a phone call from Chad, Ansley's husband, and stated that Ansley had indeed gone into labour! Katie and I were shocked, stunned beyond belief and laughing at the irony of it all. Chad and Ansley still wanted us to have the party, so we did and with each arriving guest got to tell them the news! We played the shower games , ate the food and even (secretly) showed each other the presents we had each brought. It was sad that Ansley could not be there for her own shower but it was perfect timing for the baby to be brought into the world.
Sunday evening Deanna, Shannon and I went to the hospital to help welcome Charles D Raith III into the world. He is precious and perfect and I could not be happier for the new little family.

Last hang out with Cramer's & HP realease party

Ansley's baby shower

Blockhead + friends = fun!

Last night our good friends Tim & Jen invited us over for some good eats and hang out time. The Simpson's also joined in on the fun and we had an overall great evening. It was the last time we will see Tim & Jen in Vancouver(as they are going out of town this week and we leave before they get back), which is very sad but fun to look forward to some potential visits from them in Edinburgh and with them in Belfast. The Cairn's introduced us to the great game of Blockhead last time we had dinner with them so naturally we had to show the Simps what it was all about. Turned out we were all pretty good and I think we may have played a record breaking game of something like 35+ blocks. Good times were had by all.

Take me out to the ball game!

Saturday night Derek and I, along with our home group, went to "The Nat" for a Vancouver Canadians baseball game! Derek looooves baseball so the mention of going to any type of game (little league, minor league, major league) and he is there! And of course any excuse to get outside and be with close friends is a must for the Browns. We were so excited to hear that the Canadians were playing none other than the Eugene Emeralds. Of course we went and cheered for the Emeralds. Lucas and Shannon cheered with us (support the team from the good ole U.S. of A) so out of the 3,000 or so fans that were there...4 of us cheered for the opposing team. It was great though and I think we all had some scratchy voices the next day. However, after 11 innings and lots of stadium food the Vancouver Canadians won 4 to 3. Even still, we can't deny what a great time we had!

Eugene Emeralds vs. Vancouver Canadians

Fill 'er up

Gas (or petrol) prices in Vancouver are ridiculous. Granted, not as bad as other places in the world but ridiculous when coming from the states. Since moving to Vancouver nearly 3 years ago, we have not once filled our gas tank all the way up. We would fill it whenever we took a trip to the states but around town we would just put in $20 or $30 and be on our merry way. But last night as we went to put some gas in the car we decided that we have to do it once and we filled it up! At $1.10 a litre, which comes to about $4.00 a gallon (for you Americans), our gas tank is full with Canadian gasoline for the first time and most likely the last. It was hard to see those dollars continue to rise...and rise...but we had to do it just once! Soon we will head back to Oregon and sell our car and won't have to fill up a gas tank for years to come.

What is black and white and black and white and black and white and black and white?

This past Saturday was my birthday party! Woohooo! Boy oh boy what a birthday party it was. It was everything I dreamed it would be and more. Lots of laughs, lots of black and white and lots of wine! It was a black and white formal wine and cheese birthday party (say it 3 times fast). All my gorgeous friends dressed up in their finest black and white attire and we partied the night away in our backyard and then into the basement once the sun went down and it got cold. Everyone brought a bottle of wine, it was fun to try the different kinds. And leave it to me and my friends to finish every single bottle! We all took some amazing photos and I am pleased to present them to you for your viewing. It was a great (probably) last party that we will host while living in Vancouver and so neat to see how beautiful and handsome my friends are.

Katie's Wine & Cheese Birthday Party

to keep? to cherish? to toss?

Derek and I are quickly approaching our 1 month mark until we move. It is pretty crazy and has got my head in a frenzy. As we start to think about packing and moving one must wonder what to do with all the crap. What do you keep? What do you toss? What is worth saving in a box forever? Do I keep a t-shirt from the camp I went to that one time 5 years ago? These questions pose highly more difficult and involved when moving overseas to another country. We have to significantly downsize and pretty much sell all of our worldly possessions. This is an okay thought from this side of it but worry it will be quite the reality check when we leave Vancouver with only a car full of stuff. I imagine we will drive away with mostly books and clothes. The more difficult task will arise with wondering what to take to Scotland with us. Do we make extra room in our 2 allowed suitcases for pictures and memories? Or do we just load up with clothes and the necessities? I know people do this all the time so it will work out, but the thought of it all is pretty overwhelming at the time. Let the adventure begin...

Cloud 9

Friday night Derek and I went out to Cloud 9 Restaurant, in downtown Vancouver, to celebrate my birthday! It is a revolving restaurant on the 42nd floor of the Empire Landmark hotel. It was amazing and a great way to celebrate. We had a fantastic meal, good wine and a scrumptious dessert. We watched the sun go down over the water and got to view beautiful Vancouver from above. What an awesome experience. Here are some pictures:





Besides getting lost in the elevator after the meal, it was the most perfect night out. But the festivities do not stop here. This coming Saturday I am having a big formal birthday bash with my friends! Pictures and details to follow.

SIDE NOTE: It is almost July and I am wearing a sweater. I want summer!

A 10k and a trip to Portland

Last Friday I ran my 3rd 10k. Yay! It was in the evening which I think made it more difficult than doing a morning run, but I pushed through and was able to cut almost 2 minutes off my best time. Still am no where near the pros that can run it in like 25 minutes. But that's okay. It was a gorgeous day for a run and it was through the UBC campus, a familiar place. And the best part of all is that I got a sweatshirt out of it. Not just any sweatshirt but a BROWN sweatshirt. And if you know me, you know I love brown!
Then, first thing Saturday morning, Derek and I drove down to Portland. I had been planning this trip for months and it was to go and spend 4 days with my best friend, Jess. At long last the weekend arrived. Derek dropped me off and he went on to Forrest Grove to spend the time with his Dad and Stepmom. Jess and I had 4 whole days together and it could not have been more perfect. We had the most amazing time just laughing and shopping and eating and being girls. Words cannot describe the great time we had. I did not take many pictures, but there are a few to share. Jess ended up driving back to Vancouver with us and staying one night before flying out to Malibu (Young Life Camp) to meet up with her husband who has been working out there the past couple of weeks. It was great to have her in town one night and the weather could not have been better! Anyway, enjoy the pics.

10k and Portland

It's official

The past 8 months have been quite a roller coaster. Derek decided in November that he was going to apply to some PhD programs just to see if he might get in (this was a year earlier than our original plan). Much to our delight Derek was accepted to 5 schools! All located in the UK. We were not quite sure what to to with this and we spent the next months praying, talking, thinking, listening and trusting - we knew we would figure it out in the right time. It was months of up and down emotions among our already busy day-to-day lives. After some more thought, Derek decided there was only one school that was truly his dream school. So we were able to narrow it down but were still unsure if this was right for us. Derek's dream of doing PhD studies soon became my dream as well and I had made up my mind that I was ready to pursue this dream with him. More and more time passed and I waited patiently for my husband to make the final decision. As I walked in the door one sunny Sunday afternoon, Derek was sitting on the couch with a huge grin on his face. He had the signed acceptance letter in front of him and I knew...he had made his decision. We are very happy to announce that we are moving to Edinburgh, Scotland where Derek will be a PhD Student at the University of Edinburgh's School of Divinity (read more about it on Derek's blog).

Here is Derek with his signed acceptance letter

We plan to move to Edinburgh at the beginning of September. We will be leaving Vancouver, our home of three years, at the end of July and moving to Oregon for the month of August. We will then visit our friends in Chicago in route to Scotland and begin our new adventure in Edinburgh. We expect you all to visit!

pictures, pictures everywhere!

though we still DO NOT have internet at home I have other means and decided that a picture update was necessary. So at long last I am updating you in picture form. You will find pictures from the church women's retreat, from our wonderful visit from Dave & Majell and the awesome pirate party we attended. Hope you enjoy. Beware, lots of pictures lie ahead...

Women's Retreat, Dave & Majell, Pirate Party...

no internets

We still don't have the internets at home even though it was supposed to be set up on Friday. No big deal, this is how customer service goes in Canada. We have spent countless hours on the phone with Rogers and just want our stinkin internet. Derek of course wants it for school and academic purposes but I just want to post some pictures and be able to email pictures to my friends. Also the convenience of being able to look up driving directions as we are heading out the door or movie times, etc. Officially fed up! But the good news is that it will be set up Wednesday (so they say) and we get a month of internet for free. haha! Suckers!

Just some update-ness

We have not had internet at home for over a week now and therefore I have not been able to post any pictures of what has been going on. So I have decided to give you a brief update anyway and maybe I will post some pics once we have our internet set up this weekend.

A couple weekends ago Derek and I drove to Portland and had an amazing time with family, shopping, seeing friends and going to Derek's step-brother's wedding. It was just a really nice time and felt refreshing to be back in Portland for a little trip.

Last weekend was our church Women's retreat up at Whistler. It was just Friday through Saturday but it was a really nice time. It was pretty low-key with lots of down time and hanging out. About 25 women from the church were able to go. I drove up with my friend Grace which was great because it had been a while since we had some one-on-one time. The retreat consisted of wine, food, hot tub, truth or dare, sleep, worship, small groups and making bookmarks. All in all, a wonderful getaway.

This coming weekend we are going to go to Taming of the Shrew at the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival with our friends Ryan and Elizabeth. Very much looking forward to this as this has been on my "Vancouver to do" list since we moved here!

And we just found out that our friends Dave & Majell might be coming to visit us next week and I could not be more excited about this!!!!!!!

proud

Derek and I are proud to announce our new little babe! The Canon PowerShot SD 900. 10 Mega Pixels, 3x optical zoom, 2.5 inch screen! This was a gift from Derek's dad for completing his Master's degree and it is our new pride and joy. Derek has scoured the manual and learned about all the cool features and everything we can do with this little hand held camera. As you know, we are always pictures. In fact, we were out last week and someone asked my friend Shannon if she brought her camera with her, she pointed and me and said "yep!". Since we don't want to miss out or forget anything, the camera is a big part of our life. And this one is amazing and fits in the palm of your hand.

Derek went out for a photo shoot yesterday...so you can see his handy work and the amazing pics our new camera can take.

Shelley's Birthday!

This week we celebrated my good friend, Shelley's, birthday. I was thoroughly disappointed when Shelley told me a few weeks back that she didn't want to do anything for her birthday but just be mellow and not make a big deal of it. I personally love birthdays and everything about them so this statement from Shelley did not sit well with me. Knowing me all too well, Shelley's husband, Levi, contacted me right away to see what we were going to do for Shelley for her birthday without her knowing. Ah ha! We began to scheme and I asked Shelley if we could go out on a double date for her birthday so that she can have some sort of celebration and make her feel special. She agreed and thought this sounded just right for her. Little did she know that I also invited ALL of friends to come out to dinner as well and celebrate our friend and make her feel special. If I do say so myself, it was quite successful and she had NO idea. Besides a little redness in the face and hitting Levi in the arm when she saw us all, I would say that she was quite satisfied with her birthday party.

Amber and Shelley

drinking Bellini's!

Me and Shelley - silly friends

friends, friends and more friends...

And a goofy one of Derek and I, just for fun!

blockhead

Saturday night we went over to Tim & Jenn's house for dinner. After a fantastic bbq meal and hanging out for a while they wanted to show us this game that they absolutely love. It is called Blockhead and one of Tim's friends from Northern Ireland got them this for their wedding.

It's like reverse Jenga but much more fun!
It's quite intenseAnd it sure did a number on my nerves but I did come in second place thank you very much!Thanks Jenn & Tim!

Cinco De Mayo!

Saturday was CINCO DE MAYO!!! And what better way to celebrate than to have some friends over to drink Coronas and eat chips and salsa!?! So that is exactly what we did. It was a blast just hanging out with the pals...

We all had our own strategy of trying to get the lime immersed in the beer

No night is complete without a game of Catch Phrase

and of course a pic of girls drinking beer :)

*we miss you, Reimers

one step forward

Last weekend I threw an "end of degree" party for Derek. Because he was just shy of completing requirements in time for the Regent Grad and because we probably won't be here next year to participate in graduation, I thought this would be a fun and neccesary event. We had a lot of our family in from out of town and almost all our local friends joined us as we ate good food, spent time together, played a little trivia game and reminisced with a slideshow on what the past 3 years here have held for us. Though we still have some months until we actually leave Vancouver, it was a nice little step forward. Derek just has a couple things to finish up this summer but for the most part our time at Regent has almost come to an end. We have bitter sweet feelings about it all as we have had an amazing time in Vancouver and will always remember our time here but also so excited about whatever God has for us in the near future (i'll let you know once we know!). Enjoy the pics from the weekend with the fam as well as some from the party.

Derek's "end of degree" party/weekend (April 27-29)

See you later dear friends

About a week ago, we had to say goodbye to some very close and dear friends: Jess, Jeff and Charlie. They are the first in our close "group" of friends to leave and it was not easy to say goodbye, or should I say "see you later" cause we will see them again. Jeff got a job with IVP (Inter-Varsity Press) in the Chicago area and though it was sad to see them go, we are so excited for the adventure that lies ahead. There were some events leading up to their departure that I will share with photos (of course).

They had a going away party about 2 weeks before they left. Here is Jess and cutie pie Charlie at the party

We made them a Memory book as a going away present

Classic

We were the last to leave the party -as always

This was part 1 of our last girls group (+ Charlie) meeting
Jess, Shelley, me, Shannon and Charlie

And part 2, we headed out on the town for some good drinks and conversation

Jess will love that I posted this picture :)

Awww...the last time it will be just the 4 of us

Then of course, the Reimer's last night in town was for Graduation! The accumulation of their time here. Here is Derek and Jeff (twins!)

The happy family

All the girls

And all the boys

Grad got over so late that nothing was open, so we had to settle for a Wendy's/Tim Horton's. Our last meal with the Reimer's.

After this, outside the Wendy's is where we had to say our tearful goodbyes to a special part of what has been our fmaily over the past 3 years. Our time here would not have been the same without them and they will forever hold a special place in our hearts. Hopefully we can get to Chicago in the near future and visit them in their new home.