25 Things:

I've been tagged a bajillion times with this one on Facebook so here are 25 intensely interesting facts about myself.

1. When I was young I would dream about being American and going to high school here.

2. I don't have a drivers license.

3. I'm going to be terribly sad to leave here even though I don't want to stay. I'm going to miss my friends and my Ward and how fun my life is.

4. I used to want to be an actress but I'm far too shy.

5. When I stop being shy I can be really silly. Sillier than people would imagine although they all know I have it in me.

6. I'm never going to live in Scotland again and I'm perfectly fine with that. I dream about living in Oregon by the sea.

7. I don't like animals unless they're on my plate preferably with gravy on top.

8. Nothing flusters me more than being handed a baby to hold, as much as I absolutely enjoy it it makes me extremely nervous. It's the floppy bobble head that scares me the most.

9. I love hoovering.

10. I love traditions. 11. I have astonishingly good organisational skills. I write a lot of lists.

12. I love hearing stories of childhood memories.

13. Even though I haven't/don't plan on going to University I have serious skills and plan on using them for my own business some day.

14. I love taking pictures. I get that from my mum.

15. I still want to make my parents pleased with me. There's nothing wrong with that.

16. I'm not sure what colour my eyes are. I also just found out that when I was a baby my mum had a doctor look at my eyes because she thought I was cockeyed. Sometimes I am.

I hadn't even noticed! BUT it makes me happy because:
He is too.

17. My biggest fear is that I'm forgotten.

18. I have dyscalculia which is the numerical form of dyslexia. I feel like I've been failed because I haven't been officially diagnosed. Dice games make me really nervous to the point of me getting defensive and going in a huff and crying. On the other hand, that learning disability has made me very right brained. I wouldn't be much without my creativity. Thank you broken brain.

19. I've always been the quiet one in the family and in school. Being quiet in school meant not getting the attention I needed from teachers.

20. I have perfectly straight teeth and never had braces.

21. I'm going to be 25 this year. I'm scared.

22. If things had gone normally Stuart and I would have 2 children and one on the way right now.

23. I want to go to Denmark for Christmas.

24. I was worried about going home for Christmas last year for the wrong reason.

25. I'm glad my parents don't expect me to talk to them every day and some people think it's sad that I only talk on the phone once a month to my parents but that's what works best for me.

I'm no Buddhist butt.

I was thinking last night as I was falling asleep. Why do we need blankets? I understand that they keep us warm but we also have clothes that keep us warm, and radiators so why do we need blankets. The part that puzzles me the most is that I know for a fact that I can't sleep without one. I *need* blankets. Why? Are we conditioned to need them?

I was also thinking about Buddhism. In high school I took a Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies class and we studied Buddhism quite deeply. Buddhists have what they call Three Universal Truths - things that don't change and will always happen and be.

Anicca - everything changes.
Anatta - non-self
Dukkah - suffering

Surely, there should be something about blankets thrown in there? Everything does indeed change, there always will be suffering, we all have souls AND we all need blankets...

So, what gives? What's the deal with blankets? Why do I love and collect blankets? Who started the whole blanket thing? How do you feel about this?

Typical Stuartiness.

Yesterday I got a message from Stuart on gmail chat asking if I saw his white jump drive. I hadn't.

Sometimes when Stuart asks me if I've seen his keys/wallet/whatever else I get a bit annoyed. I'm quick to anger when it comes to lost things because each of us, in the whole world should be able to keep track of our own belonging. I don't think it's too much to expect from a person. If you can't keep track of all your things then you have too much. Also, if something isn't yours don't touch it. It's just not right. I keep track of all my things and Stuart's. It gets a bit much at times because he loses things on a regular basis and it really does drive me absolutely mental. (Love you, Stuee.)

So, yeah, a message asking if I'd seen the jump drive. Nope. Then a phone call asking me to look for it. I looked in the living room, on the table, in the bathroom - things turn up there often for some reason. I checked every where. It's frustrating to me not to be able to find things. I keep the place in order for that main purpose. It was driving me absolutely batty that I couldn't find this one thing.

He said it wasn't in his bag and that he might have dropped in on the way to school - a white jump drive in the snow. Perfect. But then he mentioned he had accepted a lift to school from a stranger - I wonder if he was enticed with candy? So it might have been in the strangers car.

He came home between classes because he needed to find it. If I couldn't find it the chances of him finding it we slim, very slim to none, zero.

His voice was getting to that irritated pitch and tone that I leave the room at to avoid any head bitings from him or any snide remarks from me, ie. "It's your hard drive! Why are you mad at me for not being able to find it?" or "If it was so important why didn't you take better care of it?!" You know the sort. I can't control myself so I remove myself from the situation. Luckily, I didn't need to move this time because he went to the bathroom.

As I was slumped on the floor checking his school bag for him again I heard him mutter something from the bathroom.

"I found it."

I checked the bathroom. There was no way it was in there. No way at all. NO. WAY.

He came out with nothing in his hands, weird for just finding something you were desperate to find but he had actually found it.



Around his neck.



Mmmhmm. The jump drive is on a lace thingy so you can wear it round your neck. It was around his neck. The whole time. Around. His. Neck.

BUT, he had already checked around his neck at school and it wasn't there so somehow it disappeared and came back.


He was glad to find it and I was glad he wasn't frustrated and that I was right :)

We ended that special time together with some hot chocolate before he headed back out to school.

It took me long enough...

Inner turmoil:

I'm supposed to be finding a pair of Sunday boots to buy but ofcourse I'm distracted by dream boots that are far too expensive for me and some not too expensive (how much does free shipping count for anyway?) but too impractical. Unfortunately. The justifications for each of these boots go as follows:

I'm Scottish. I should have tartan boots. Even though they're not my clan, they are still tartan.

I would never complain of back pain ever again if I had these... and I'd end up crippled and in a wheel chair because of said uncomplained back pain.

These are on my short list right now. It's almost Valentines Day, I could buy 2 pairs of shoes, right?

I adore these shoes. They're in my price range but are too small. It's hard to let a little thing like size come between me and adorable shoes that would even sweeter with cream tights and my tweed skirt... If I saw someone wearing them I'd probably beat them up.

Beautiful. Buttony goodness.

These are actually dream shoes. If I were a shoe I'd be this one. I need it and will dream about them for the rest of eternity. I'd take a bullet for them. True love.

Pink boots tempt me far more than they should. When they're on sale it makes my heart a little excited. It would make no sense for me to buy these. It makes no sense that they were even created but look at them... PINK!

I have a feeling Stuart's going to be very surprised with what my feet will be wearing in a few days...

For Cosmictadpole:

"I love your new layout! Yes, I believe Idaho has the best sunsets of anywhere
I've ever been. Though I haven't yet seen a Rexburg sunset. My boyfriend and I
are thinking of visiting that neat hotel you wrote about a few posts back. Is
there anything cool in Rexburg we should check out?"

The hotel was fun, be sure to check out their site for monthly specials and virtual tours. As for whatelse to do in Rexburg, for being a University town it's pretty basic.

Food: Bajio (my favorite), Wingers, Craigos.

Cheap theatre - handy after shelling out the cash for a nice hotel room.

The University has some performances open to the public you could go and see - I recommend Extravadance in June, I'm not sure how your boyfriend will feel about that. Actually, I am sure how he'll feel about it, I'm just in denial.

Bear World is just up the road. Idaho Falls zoo.

If you come in Winter bring a sledge/sleigh, there's a big hill in one of the playing fields perfect for sledging down ;)



What else is there to do in Rexburg?

Sunsets and promises.

Rexburg still has the best sunsets. They're always so different and always so perfect. This one was awesome. Is there anything more refreshing than that blue and orange together? I doubt it.

I promise to try harder and to be happier. It's my life and I can make it a
wonderful one or a not so wonderful one.

I have amazing friends who love me.

I have the best husband and parents who also love me.

I shouldn't and I don't need more than that. I'm very lucky :)

New project:

I'm starting a Ricks & BYU-i blog directory if you'd like me to list you/unlist you from it let me know. Also, if your parents went to Ricks and have a blog and would like to be listed for the sake of being found/finding old friends let me know too OR if they would like to be part of it but don't have a blog help them out ;)

I won't list your last name unless you ask me to - unless your name is in your blog address or title and it comes up that way on it's own.

Spread the word!

Romantic weekend extravaganza:

Since Christmas Stuart has been saying, "I have a surprise for you" and would ask if I wanted to know what it was. For me, waiting for surprises are torturous. Not knowing KILLS me. BUT I have a husband who likes to surprise me but finds keeping the surprise to himself torturous. If I'm going to be tortured by Stuart you better believe I'm going to torture him right back. So, when the question was asked I would say, "No. I do not want to know." Both of us would be dying. Goal accomplished. I'm not going to die alone. He's coming with me!

He told me that I would get my gift before Valentine's Day for sure and that was all he could tell me. He did start dropping abnormal points into conversations and I was able to work out what the surprise was and when I'd get it. He knew he was saying things he shouldn't but couldn't control himself. I think that means I won. I did win. I won big.

On Sunday after church we checked in to The AmericINN on the outskirts of Rexburg for 2 nights in their Emerald Lagoon room. Stuart booked it 2 days after Christmas - he kept it a surprise for way longer than expected. Bless him.

He took me to Applebees for lunch on Monday. After that we both started feeling a bit sick. I'm not sure if it was the food or all the excitement or all the chlorine from all the time we spent splashing about in the swimming pool...

The bathtub was huge and round. It filled from a spout on the ceiling and had some super duper spa jets. Love.
Stuart fixed the water feature. One of the little streams of rain kept spraying on the floor but, don't worry he fixed it good.
With my health deteriorating as it is - mental health included - it was a perfect treat. Things have been really stressful recently. I've been getting sick all the time with different viruses, I've been losing a lot of sleep, I'm constantly worrying about this and that, my hair's falling out, I'm lethargic, I was a bit depressed - I could go on and on but that isn't going to help anybody. I haven't been happy which freaks me out because I'm almost always happy except when I'm super happy.

Stuart and I never had a honeymoon. All our money went on immigration and since then it's been going on schooling and rent. The first time we'd actually gone on a trip just the two of us was Thanksgiving 2007 -we were married in early 2004 - and since 2 more times since then. We did go back to Scotland for the first time in summer of 2007 but that was different. We've never stayed in a hotel just the two of us except those 2 nights after we were married - 2 nights which were spent sleeping and planning my move over to here. We haven't ever had a time to sit and connect the way we did these past 2 nights. I feel rejuvenated and our relationship - which has never been that difficult - has been refreshed. We took time to renew our commitment to each other and to talk about what we want from eachother and our future together. We spoke and laughed about how we aren't ready to have children. Going away just the two of us like that and having uninterupted time together made me feel like an adult for the first time ever. It's been almost 5 years that we've been married and that was the first time I felt like an adult. I think I'm finally out of adventure mode and I'm now in grown-up mode.

Things I learned and plans we made:
- I don't have to answer to anyone and if I don't want to do something I don't have to do it. It's not a problem.

- Stuart likes it when I stand up for myself - especially against him.

- I'm not a bad person because I don't want children right now. I think Stuart was a bit relieved when I told him that. I'm happy where I am. I'm still getting to know Stuart AND I'm only 24!

- When I have children it'll be for Stuart and I, not for the grandparents. It would be wrong to have children just to stop feeling like a disappointment to our parents.

- We want to learn to communicate better before adding kids to the mix.

- We love talking about our furture together and Stuart will never be "done with me".

- We hope that when our friends talk about us they aren't saying things like "I wonder how long Stuart and Laura will last."

- We have some really great friends.

- It's better to talk things out than to bottle them up. I've always know this and I've always been a bottler but I've been working hard on fixing it and controlling my temper when I'm forcing myself to confront Stuart about bugging me.

I could go on, I learned a lot and had so much fun with Stuart. I'm very lucky - and so is he :)

I love the earth but not so much when it has snow on it.

Brace yourselves for this. It isn't going to be pretty. I'm so far behind on posting pictures because of the stupid card reader problem AND the google chrom issue I have that's stopping me being able to drag my pictures into the right order.

I need to bombard you with a ton of pictures right this minute.

This is what it was like when we flew out from Edinburgh. Whilst waiting we saw a guy be arrested out in the car park. Look close and you'll see two yellow jacketed policemen heading to the scene.

This is what Canadia looked like when we flew over it. I felt like I was looking down at some BBC documentry.

This here is what we came home to. Blech. Barf. Vomit.

I've taken to chanting "Only a few more months. Only a few more months..." I can't stand this weather. It's killing me inside.

We playes Settlers of Catan for the first time and enjoyed it a lot. The company was good.

Stay tuned (chooned) for a nice story accompanied with pictures when Stuart gets home with lappy.

Laura started the fiiiiire!

The older sib.

This is my brother, Andrew.

Winter semester goals:

- Be the FHE phantom more than once
- Write 'thank you'/'just cuz' notes weekly
- Host a recipe exchange
- Take more photos
- Continue blogging like there's no tomorrow
- Fulfill my calling wholeheartedly
- Be more involved in my community

Big hearts, big hearts are for breaking:

I have to wait for Stuart to be done with the lappy before I can get any pictures off my camera, transfer them to my portable hard drive and then put them on the big computer because the card reader in the printer won't read my new memory stick. That was a long sentence. Not that stupid Blogger will even upload my pictures right now for some reason. I've never had problems with uploading on blogger... Happy New Year!

SO! Yesterday we got up for church. They change it from 1.30pm to 9am in the New Year for us and Stuart thought it was actually at 9.30am so he was lying in bed enjoying a snuggle when I woke up and asked what time it was. 8.30. Eight-thirty?! I darted out of bed and told Stuart to get moving. I was able to amazing get ready and had time to spare as Stuart was stumbling into the shower. He took his sweet time -I should have specified a specific speed for him to move at - so I went ahead and curled my eyelashes - making the most of my time, thankyouverymuch. We headed out at about 4 minutes to 9. I was a bit annoyed but whatevs. I was really looking forward to getting to church and meeting some new people - it was the first Sunday of the semester. We hop into the car and Stuart starts clearing the snow from the windows. Time's a tickin'. In he gets and sticks the key in the ignition and turns it. Nothing. Silence.

The battery died.

By then we were late. There were no cars in the carpark. There wasn't enough juice in the battery to even lock the doors or open the car boot with the button. We sat there for a while talking about how we should have went grocery shopping on Saturday. Now we were going to starve to death.

So we went in the house. I was mad because I looked really cute - like I do every day apparently. Oh well. So that was that.

We went over to some friends for dinner and learned how to play Settlers of Catan. It was a pretty weird day all in all.

Baby bunch update

1. Rachel F
2. Rachel P - Baby girl: Peyton
3. Jo'est - Baby girl: Yo'sea
4. Susan - Baby boy: Edward
5. Kathryn
6. Maryann - Baby boy: James
7. Lacey - Baby boy: Tristan
8. Bethany
9. Keri - Baby girl: Kayli
10. Mandy - Baby boy: Kekoa
11. Kara
12. Tami - Baby boy: Jacob
13. Shannon - Baby boy: Romeo
14. Beki - Baby boy: Ozzy
15. Beth - Baby boy: Jaxon
16. Jen - Baby boy: Maddon
17. Sandra - Baby boy: Hadley
18. Katrina - Baby girl: Libby
19. Angela - Baby girl: Angela Elizabeth
20. Stephanie

I'll be making a new list soon!

Photographic treasures:

Home, sweet freezing, home...

I don't really know where to begin. It seems like traveling away from Scotland takes longer than it does to actually get there, even though we had shorter layovers and such...

We rolled into Rexburg just after 4pm last night - seems like much longer ago. It was unbelievably windy and absolutely freezing. I had to try and remember why on earth we were coming back here and then I saw Linzi's gloriously happy face. Friends. Love them. We're almost all unpacked and settled. We went to bed around 9 and got up at 8:30am - I'm making the most of my jetlag in getting started on my goal of getting up earlier.

So, let's go back to Wednesday morning. We got up around 7ish and crammed all our stuff in the grape AKA dad's car, and headed to Edinburgh. We got there at 9ish and sort of milled around a bit saying our goodbyes. Dad tried to make it easier for me to leave by telling me he hated me and to go away. Surprisingly it did make me stop crying for a bit as I burst out laughing. I think I've mentioned before that when I leave home my dad has whispered a little gem of wisdom in my ear this time he messed up by whispering that last gem he gave me - Enjoy the journey. Then he fixed it by explaining that this is a different journey, every day is a different one so enjoy it too. I don't think he can really use that one again... In his defense I did have a fathers blessing the night before and I had a lot to think about from that. Lots of great council and blessings.

My mum gave me several things to think about as we hugged and I wiped my snotty nose on her shoulder. On Christmas eve we watched It's a Wonderful Life. Mum hadn't seen it before and I think it really effected her. She told me to make my life wonderful because it's really up to us to do that, just like in the film.

After that we went through security. It took all of 7 minutes when Stuart was expecting it to take an hour - hence why he peeled me away from my parents. Who doesn't like a torturously long farewell?...

Our flight boarded at 11.30 so we had a lot of time to sit and hang about. Whilst we were waiting we witnessed someone being arrested out in the airport carpark. I didn't take a picture this time.

The flight boarded and we got settled in for the first 7 hours of our journey. Honestly, I was feeling quite fragile leaving home this time. It felt like leaving my home as it burned to the ground. There was so much I wanted to protect and take care of before going that I had no chance of doing. Damage I can't fix from here. Damage I can't fix at all. But I held it together and really didn't cry that much unlike another girl on the flight.

The girl was sitting one row behind and across from us. We were on a plane that only had 2 rows of 3 seats, Stuart and I were the only people in our row. Early on in the flight the girl, bless her heart burst out crying really loudly. To begin with we had no idea what the sound was but as we looked about we spotted the 18-20 year old girl sitting by the window (we ruled out fear of flying because of this fact) being comforted by her mother as her younger brother looked on. So strange, we thought. She continued to burst out wailing and sobbing for the whole flight! Each time she did I would say to Stuart, "I'm totally fine" because I'd only cried a couple times and never made a sound compared to this girl. One minute she'd be fine and laughing then she'd burst out crying so loudly... it was weird. I have no idea what was wrong with her.

We got in to JFK and reclaimed our baggage for security and then went off for our 4 hour layover during which I befriended a missionary who was heading home from Albania and Stuart bought me an I <3 NY tshirt. The tshirt means a lot to me because Stuart isn't one for wasting money on souveniers.

Our flight to Salt Lake was another 5 hours. By the time we were boarding the plane I was done. For me it gets to the point where I don't even care where I'm going. I just need to be somewhere and be done - so any emotionalness is completely gone by that point which is nice. We got in to Salt Lake at 11.30pm (6.30am GMT) and was greeted by Lauren. We got to her house and to bed around midnight. Our shuttle left SLC at 12pm yesterday and we got home just after 4...

It was a long journey and I'm glad to be home.

Indian yummers:

After our day out in St. Andrews we met Scott and Vicky who treated us to an Indian meal.
Vibrant and delectable.

Fooooore!

On Saturday morning mum and dad packed up and sorted our picnic for our day out...
Then we hit the road.
They do have books and films in Scotland:
And bridges too. It looks like Stuart is scared. He might be. You judge:
Then we got to St. Andys which you'll really want to read more about here.
St. Andrews is really old. It was made a royal burgh in 1124.It also has a lovely beach. We parked facing the sea and cracked out the picnic.
Crusty bread, cheese and meat. My choice of meat is Billy Bear. Hawd yer wheesht! This is the world famous links where they hold The Open Championship. That's a golf thing. I copied it from Wikipedia. And we're funny. Except, if you're laughing it means your pronouncing 'wynd' wrong because it's not actually funny. We walked from the beach up past the University to the Cathedral ruins. Right before you go through the gates to the ruins there's a War memorial.

'Pro-patria' is Latin for 'died for the Fatherland', I think. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Follow me...

One of my goals this year is to really kick off my travelling feet blog.

Tea time:

Here's our New Year dinner. Feast your eyes on this!
The mumma needed to clear some space in the kitchen so she set out the puddings on the table first probably to tempt us to death...

Strawberry and passionfruit pavlova. Oh my my!

The middle cake was thrown across the table when mum tried to pick it up but it survived the violence and tasted soooo good! Notice the double barrel Christmas crackers. Weird.

Mmmmm...

Parma ham and peach starters. The idea was nice but I wasn't too keen.

Steak pie, mashed tatties, stuffing balls, brussel sprouts, roast tatties, roast parsnips and carrots, pigs in blankets... you better believe I cleared my plate!
There was also the option of roast lamb.

Addicts.

It's no secret that my mum is a Tetris addict. Stuart brought his Gameboy Advance sp back with him and also my favorite, the Gameboy ds. I introduced my mum to the DS and she took to it like a duck to water. Little did I know my dad would take to it more naturally that a duck to water. So natural, like breathing even! Mum goes back to her old favorite, Tetris whilst dad tries his hand at Bust a Move DS.

Idaho. Hate. Rage. Snow.

I think this picture is from my friend, Linzi's blog. The red square is where our car is buried. *Barf*

To my Cambi,

You're only five years old and already life's throwing lemons at you. My hope for this year is that you can learn more and more about your favorite things ie. dinosaurs, stars and shells and that you can keep growing strong and tall. I can't believe how big you are now. It's insane. I can hardly fit you on my lap anymore and snuggle you like when I last saw you. You're not a baby any more. You don't have chubby cheeks or leg rolls now. You're tall and skinny. I'm glad I've been able to catch a glimpse of this stage in your life because I don't think I'd have believed how big you've grown if I hadn't seen it for myself and who knows when I'll get to see you again? Hopefully it won't be too long.

You're amazing. I love and miss the little chats we have about the moon and the pretending and playing we used to do. I love how hilarious you are. You crack me up and I think about you every single day. When I wake up in the morning I think about how you used to wake me up and when I go to sleep at night I remember your little hands on my face and your little arms about my neck snuggling me to sleep - even though it was meant to be you going to sleep!

Everyone who knows you loves you. You draw people to you, you're magical. We all love you and miss you. Your granny and papa really miss you and love you bunches and bunches. You're the cleverest, smartest, sweetest little boy. You deserve the world (and the stars and the moon). It's because of you that I found Uncle 'Stooee' and I love that. You're my two favorite boys. Thanks for coming into my life and being such a huge part of it.

I was so surprised when you called me Auntie Laura the other day. For some reason it made me a bit sad. I do know I am your Auntie and I'm proud that I am. If I wasn't your Auntie I'd still choose to be part of your life. I love you a lot and most of all. You'll always be my wee man.

Lots of love, wishes and secrets,

Auntie Laura

XXX

Hogmanay:

Because Christmas was banned in Scotland for about 400 years and only allowed to be celebrated again in the early 1960's New Year is HUGE. We call New Years Eve 'Hogmanay' and have all sorts of traditions and celebrations for it.
Some Stronach family traditions include staying up for the bells - the Scottish version of the ball dropping. The New Year is chimed in on our town steeple where the towns folk gather to count down, get blootered and snog on the twelfth stroke... We stayed home this year and watched the festivities on the tele - Edinburgh has a huge street party, Stonehaven has the fireballs which we did plan on going to but it was bloody cold outside... Our back door faces the town centre so we get a good view of the fireworks from the upstairs bedrooms. But before that happens we eat some cheese and crackers and dad pours some Shloer for drinking as the bells ring in the New Year. We all hug and kiss and say "happy new year" then we watch some fireworks and go to bed because in a few hours the sun will be rising and that's what we really want to see...

We get up at the crack of dawn to go see the first sunrise of the year. We left around 8am this year but it looks much earlier - and it felt it too. This year there was a lot of whining and doubt about the sunrise being a good one - there have been years we went out and it seemed like the sun actually didn't rise at all so there was reason for the moaning and groaning (mum).
It started out like this, which I thought was so pretty anyway...

Then the sun started to head up our way and the clouds got all funky...

And the Sunrise Squad of 2009 arrived...

The sun started to come up. Do you think it was a good one?

A little fishing boat headed out right at the sun was coming up. Andrew identified it as the Usan Lady (?) and wondered why on earth they were going out at that time on New Years morning. If they were taking a picture I bet it turned out amazing. They went out and came back quite quickly...

Stuart and I snuggled in the sunrise. Happy as clams.

Mum and dad shivered it in together.

Here's the bunch of us:

Then we went home...
where some of us slept and some of us didn't.

Happy New Year everyone! I really hope this year is the best for everyone.