Can't wait for my family to visit!!

Hello,
I have been writing papers pretty much nonstop since I last posted (though you will be glad to know I took a break yesterday to dissect a locust's head) and it is very hard to work up enough creative juices to write on the blog when I have already been writing all day (so, I am sorry I have been absent!)

But I am back now and I have big news...on Saturday I am going to have my first visitors!!  I can't wait to see my family again (and have some good food for a change!).  Another somewhat selfish reason I am glad to see them is that their apartment has an extra bedroom so I can sleep in a big bed for a couple of nights while they are here.
I am really excited to share this lovely city with my family, I just wish I didn't have classes all week!

I promise that I will get some more photos up soon (though things are kinda grey and dreary right now), but here are some old photos that I took when I was visiting last year!

A Highland Cow (I may have trespassed to get this photo, shhhh! don't tell)

What the sky looks like most of the time here

The part of town that my family will be staying in on an astonishingly clear day

Anyway guys, I hope you all have a lovely thanksgiving break (I am sooooo jealous, I could use a break right about now)

Love ya!

Some random thoughts I have had today...

So you know how gmail shows adds that are relevant to your email content (for about a month while I was waiting for my visa to come through they were trying to sell me a visa to Guam) well currently my gmail is advertising a school where one can learn to be a manicurist and I have no idea why, none of the emails I have sent or received have anything to do with manicuring...it is very strange.

Also, while the UK has technically made the switch to the metric system, you wouldn't really know it based on day to day life.  They still serve pints, people give their heights in feet and inches and they use stones as a measure of weight.  Brief side-note; stone is such a confusing measure especially when you consider the fact that no one seems to know how many pounds in a stone, in my rigorous and scientific survey of my friends absolutely no one knew how much weight a stone represented (for your edification dear blog readers; 1 stone=14 lbs).  The only place that seems to use the metric system is my gym (which is soooo confusing, you have no idea.  The first time I went to the gym here I grabbed a weight labeled 10 and tried to do bicep curls...I thought I had gone insane until I finally worked out the whole pound vs. kilogram thing.)

And lastly, all British brands bear a label with a little crest that says, "By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen Manufacturers of..." (with whatever they make in place of the ellipses, for example, my dish soap says "... of Soap and Detergent").  I think it is really funny and I truly hope that somewhere in the palace there is someone whose job it is to decide what companies get to be appointed manufacturers of soap and crackers and things (I also dearly hope that that person is the queen, but I think that might be stretching it).

Anyway, gonna go sleep now that I have finally finished my biology paper,
Love ya!

Rain, rain, go away (and please take these essays I have to write with you)

I have been very busy lately (finally starting to feel like I am in school for real!)  and I have had my first real bout of homesickness...I miss knowing exactly what I had to do and having someone make me do it, but mostly I miss having good food on a regular basis (the cafeteria here is awful).

I am not sorry I moved here, it was the right decision, I needed the challenge, and I have no desire to go back to high school but now I understand why people wax nostalgic about their teenage years.

I have always been of the opinion that high school should not be the best time of your life in fact,  I may have said (in a sarcastic manner) "if I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life - remind me to kill myself"(a quote I borrowed from the seminal nineties flick about the seventies Dazed and Confused)  However, thought I do not under any circumstances wish to return to high school, I now understand why people feel that way.  High school is easy in a lot of ways (while of course being incredibly hard in others), you don't have to worry about things, your parents are always there for you and you can kind of shut down and go on autopilot (or at least I could).  Here is different, I have a whole host of concerns that I didn't have before and my autopilot is shot; however, I have come to the conclusion that this is a good thing, I needed to do this...but I do wish there was a little less rain to contend with...

I am very tired of rain...I wish that the weather was like this again

Again, thanks for bearing with me when I ramble
Love ya!

Sorry, My Life Has Been Pretty Uneventful Lately

Hello,

Sorry about the lack of posts, I have just been schooling away and there have been few exciting events to tell you about.
Anyway, here is a tally of my last 10 days

Number of jogs taken while the temperature was approaching zero degrees Celsius: 2
Number of times Nikki tried to talk me out of said runs: 2 (sorry Nikki, your reasoned arguments are no match for my stubbornness)
Funny looks gotten on said runs: at least 10
Rainy days: 4
Number of aforementioned jogs taken in the pouring rain: 1
Number of other runners seen on said run: 4
Number of said runners who were male: 1
Number of said runners who were better equipped for the rain than I was: 4
Number of twisted ankles: 1
Taxi rides taken: 1
Taxi rides considered: at least a dozen
Visits to the Botanic garden (for biology class): 2
Visits to the Botanic gardens when it was freezing: 1

Current age: 19
Birthday packages received: 3
Cupcakes contained within packages: 12
Kindles received: 1
Books read on my new kindle: 1

Newspapers read on new kindle: 2

Comments about the new kindle: (about) 7 

Chocolate mice received: 2
Birthday gifts from friends here: 3
How much my friends liked my birthday: directly proportional to the number of cupcakes I gave them
Dances watched: 1 (Alvin Ailey, it was amazing!)


Thanks for voting on the pictures below!  I am still deciding but I will let you all know which one I eventually submit.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes.
Love ya!

So I need your help...

Hey y'all,
There is a photography contest for international students here and I am planning to enter but I would love your help picking a photo.


The official rules are as follows, "send us a photograph of something which encapsulates their idea of :"I *heart* Edinburgh.  Edinburgh will be your home for the next few months or years. Send us an image that sums up what Edinburgh means to you - maybe it is your favourite place, or a view of the city/university which reminds you of your time here. It could be your friends, the place you live, a building - something serious, funny or quirky. If you love Edinburgh - show us why."


And now for the entrants (there may be more as I take them):


Photo 1:  (I had some fun playing with the editing on this one so there are a lot of versions)


edit A

 edit B

edit C

edit D

edit E

edit F (this one is just for fun)

Photo 2:

Photo 3:

Photo 4:

Photo 5:

Let me know what you think!
Love ya!

Just wanted to share something funny with you guys...

So I like to keep track of how people get to this site, you know do they come from Facebook or are they following me on Google Reader etc.  I think its fun to see how peopel get here (and it is something to do instead of writing this paper I have to finish).

Anyway, today I got a google hit that made me laugh, someone found my blog by googling "how to spell 'ooph'" (if you don't get that see this post).

Just thought that was funny,
I should get back to this paper,
Love ya!

PS Check out that liking action!  I knew that informatics class would be good for something!

I miss this guy (and the assorted family in these pictures)

I miss my pooch!

 He is cute

And likes to sit by the fire

 And tries to steal baby toys

And cuddles with his sister

And goes for walks with his mama

And he used to like to play with his yak...but then he destroyed it (oh and dad you are welcome for not posting the one where you are throwing the yak and you and Zeus are watching it with the same expression)

He (doesn't really) like to share his bed with little cousins (but he does, 'cause he is a good dog)

He likes to survey his domain

But mostly he likes to run (preferably with a stick)

And I miss him (and my family).

Love ya!