Food

This is my first posting of food in Aberdeen, and my last...haha, just joking. When Gerald and I came here a month ago, we were on the company's dime and ate out every night; therefore, we didn't have to deal with the grocery store and such. Now, it's a different story. The restaurants here are decent but pretty expensive. They have your typical steak, fish, and loads of potatoes (chips)! Not the thin, crispy, McDonalds kind, but the thick fried wedges. People here eat potato wedges with everything: pasta, pizza, sandwiches, steak, fish, heck, they probably even eat Pho with potatoes...haha! I'm not having that. I told myself that I will try to eat healthier and be more active once we moved here so we'll be cooking lots. We went to the grocery store the other day and started buying some staple items: Bread, milk, eggs, peanut butter, etc. Turns out most of the items here are oganic and natural. With the eggs, you had no choice, which is good. It forces you to buy organic, which Gerald and I really want to do. I found natural potato chips as well so that was a plus!! We're attempting to make spaghetti tonight with whole grain pasta =) They don't have my usual Bertolli sauce so we'll see how this turns out. I'm not really in the mood to cook anything fancy just yet since I don't have all my spices and ingredients from back home but once I get them, I'll be exploring. I can't wait to make curry for Gerald...haha. They love curry here! I'll start posting about different restaurant we try as well. There's a Saturday Farmers market at the end of each month so I'm looking forward to that too!

Farewell Houston; Hello Aberdeen

Yesterday was our first night in our new home and must I say, I slept like a baby, despite the hard bed. Gerald and I both slept for 14 hours! I guess you can say we were exhausted from all the fun events we attended our last weekend in Houston. We had a nice Scottish family party, fun filled day with friends at St. Arnolds, Hefleys, Cheerz, Bar Rob, and Meteor, more good eats with family on Sunday and to top it off, Lady Gaga @ the Toyota Center Sunday night. Pho for lunch Monday and we were on our way. Funny how I chose Vietnamese food as my last meal in Houston for a while. For some reason, everytime we go on vacation or come back from vacation, I want to eat pho. Gerald dislikes pho but he can always eat some beef with rice and eggrolls...haha.

So we arrived in Aberdeen around 11 am local time Tuesday (5am Houston time, there's a 6 hour difference). We kind of unpacked our 6 bags and did some cleaning around the house. Our neighbor houses 7 bird feeders so there's pigeons galore in their backyard, which means bird shit on our windows....I hope the rain takes some of it away because I sure don't want to be cleaning that. The house is nice but is definitely lacking closet space, I guess we took that for granted in Houston. We'll probably have to make our garage storage...haha.

As of right now, we feel like foreigners. We have no car, internet, phone, or tv. We tried getting a phone yesterday but since we don't have credit in the UK, we were denied. I hope there's some way around that because I don't know how much longer I can live without a phone, I feel disconnected. Thank goodness for Skype and internet though. Our furniture and shipment comes in a month so once that arrives, I think it'll be easier to get settle in. In the meantime, I'll just try to make due with what we have. We miss everyone! Bye for now!

No Job = More Work!

So, I haven't been working for almost a month now but I feel like I've been doing more work around the house. We have been slowly preparing for our move and now it's crunch time. The house went up for rent a couple weeks ago and we've had some viewings but no renter yet. I love our house and the location it's in. We've had close to 4 awesome years here and am sad to leave it behind. If you know anybody, let me know: http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=58018033.

The past couple of weeks have been busy busy. Because everything is so much more expensive in the UK, Gerald in I have been on a shopping spree, stocking up on everyday items along with new skiis, bikes, and winter clothes =) We're trying to take advantage of the free shipping.

In addition to our move, we had a recent wedding celebration to attend in Toronto, Canada. Congrats to Arnie & Nina! We flew in to Buffalo and drove to Toronto. On our way there, we stopped by Niagara Falls. We did the Maid of the Mist boat ride and got soaked! It was super fun though. It was nice to finally visit Toronto during the summer.We had great hosts and

spent some good quality time with the family. There were 9 kiddos altogether and 1 on the way. All of them are mixed except for 2. This just shows you what the next generation is becoming, a diverse multicultural generation. I love it!

We have 6 more days in Houston and am looking forward to spending the last couple of days with family and friends. This is a big move for us and we couldn't do it without the their support.

Birthday Goodies!

Another year has come and gone and I'm now 27 years young =) Sometimes all a girl needs for her birthday is ice cream cake, cupcakes, steak and beer with great friends! Thanks for a wonderful birthday! I also want to wish my fellow Cancer (69) babies a happy birthday as well! You know who you are! Good night =)

Charms & Secrets - Paris

On our way home from Aberdeen, we decided to have an extra long layover and spent the 4th of July weekend in Paris. The last time we visited Paris I came back engaged so it was nice to go back and explore the city again. We arrived just in time for their summer sale; it was like Black Friday in Paris. There were lines to get into stores, people pushing and shoving to get through and pretty decent discounts on designer wear. Gerald and I spent 9 good hours shopping on a rainy Saturday. I managed to come out with a few bags and Gerald two $5 sweaters from H&M =P

Aside from the crazy shopping, we saw another side of Paris on our Charms & Secrets night tour. We ventured out on a 4 hour electric bike tour around the city and saw all the beautiful lights. Biking in Paris is not the easiest but we managed to come out alive. During our first visit to Paris, we saw all the major sites but never really knew the history behind it. It's amazing what you can learn by looking at the details instead of just the big picture. This is something I definitely recommend if you're looking for a different perspective of Paris. All the crowds are gone and you can just take everything in.

I enjoyed our 10 day trip away but am super glad to be back home and sleeping in my own bed. Heavenly, how I missed you so!

Aberdeen, Scotland

Gerald and I have been in Aberdeen for about 5 days now. The first thing the Scots like to talk about is the weather, so here I go. Today was the first gloomy day, although the sun is trying to come out now. It's amazing how the weather can change within minutes; unpredictable is what they say around here. We were lucky to experience nice weather the past couple of days during our home search: blue skies, cool breeze, and sunshine!

Over a 1 1/2 day period, we viewed 20 properties and saw some pretty interesting

homes. Most of them modern and updated and some that just scared me, i mean literally scared me. It gave me the shivers: 150 year old granite, traditional Scottish home with winding staircase, high ceilings, antique furniture and a bathroom the size of a bedroom. Gerald thought it was cool but I could never see myself living in such a space. It reminded me of a scary movie where you never knew what was going to jump out at you.

Instead, we opted for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath town home in the City Center. It's within walking distance to all the shops, restaurants, and theaters in Aberdeen. More importantly, it's within steps of a Catholic church. Gerald didn't know this until after the fact but likes to think he chose it because of that...haha. Anyhow, this is the beginning of our new adventure here in Aberdeen and I look forward to sharing many more stories with you all! Cheers for now!