Happy Birthday, Mike!!
September 9th was Mike’s birthday! We celebrated by going to Vittoria on George IV for dinner and then back to the flat for birthday cake and gifts! Enjoy a few of the shots! Thanks to my friend Steven for switching shifts with me so I could celebrate with my honey!
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| Mike's B-Day |
The Showalter’s do Scotland
Mike and I were completely surprised when two weeks ago my (Trudy) Mom called and said, “hey, I’ve got some good flight rates here, we’re coming in a week and a half!!” We were SO excited and in total shock! We were hoping they’d be able to come sometime in our three years here, but it kept looking like it wasn’t going to be happening. We were thrilled when they landed at Glasgow International Airport on the 19th of September (their 38th Wedding Anniversary) and stayed through September 26th! In that time, we showed them our little town of Stockbridge within Edinburgh, the Castle, the Royal Yacht, had tea at the Howard Hotel, took them to Carrubber’s Christian Centre with us for church, and took a few days to travel through Fort William and up into the Isle of Skye. We had a lovely time. The only minimal downfalls of their time here is that though they arrived on Friday, Dad’s luggage wasn’t here with us until Tuesday. Thankfully it was all accounted for. And then on Tuesday Mom took a wee tumble on the uneven concrete of Waverly Bridge. She was okay, but really injured her arm and is now in the healing process. Aside from those little mishaps, their time was well spent and enjoyable….who knows, maybe another trip is in their future?! Below is a slide show of our time together. Pictures don’t do any of it justice, but it’s at least an attempt. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for fitting this trip into your schedules. We don’t take it for granted.
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| Showalter's in Scotland |
New Academic Year…..New Job!
Hello friends! It has definitely been too long since we updated this thing! In a nutshell, I can tell you that upon our return from our trip to the states in July, the rest of the summer was a whirlwind! The month of August is a festival month where all kinds of theatre venues take place night and day throughout the city. The population of the city doubles and there is literally something going on ALL of the time! While it’s a fun time of year for those visiting Edinburgh, it makes it quite a busy time of year for the people who live and work here. Being that Mike is an international student at the University of Edinburgh, he’s tyipcally only allowed to work 20 hours per week because they want him to focus on the reason he’s here, which is study itself. While off term, however, he’s allowed to work up to 40 hours and that is what he did for the month of Augst. This wasn’t just any 40 hours, however. For two weeks, Mike worked from 6pm-4am at Starbucks on teh Royal Mile, which is the busiest Starbucks in all of the UK during the month of August. He did a fantastic job, but it wiped him out! I hated being at home into the night by myself…..so thankfully, that shift is over and we’re back to a much more normal routine. Mike isn’t quite back into his usual swing of things at university, but he’s getting there!
Also upon our return, God blessed me with a new job! I presently work at the Centre for Sport and Exercise as a receptionist. We’re so thankful that I got a university job because Mike and I will have the same holiday schedule….not to mention free gym memberships! I’ve been at the CSE for nearly 4 full weeks now and am really enjoying it. This week is Fresher’s Week, which is when all the students are returning and getting reaquainted with all their activities and such so it’s quite busy at the gym with new memberships and a sports fayre displaying all of the clubs of the university.
We are SO THRILLED to be welcoming guests this coming Friday! My (Trudy’s) parent’s are coming from Maryland and staying for a week! They are arriving on Friday, their 38th wedding anniversary, and we’ll have the honor of showing them around the city and the castle, showing them our new flat and where we do our work and school thang. We cannot wait until Friday comes so we can have some nice time to visit!
That’s what’s happening on this side of the pond….what’s up with all of you?!
