What Is And What Should Never Be

In a very uncharacteristic move for me, I could not bring myself to plan a single thing for Christmas in Arkansas. Juggling the logistics, everyone's schedules and expectations, it just seemed like a lot for a person as brain-dead as I was after a full-throttle fall/December. All I really wanted to do was eat mac and cheese on the couch for two weeks. Fortunately, I was able to do plenty of that. As it turns out, a chill, unplanned two week at home suited me much better than I ever imagined. It has been a weird year (the fall especially) for lots of my family so it was really good to be with everyone for some time. The picture below is my new favorite one of all my best people and an accurate account of my Christmas break at SuPa's (SuPa = Susan + Paul. I think they made up this nickname for themselves but anyway I use it a lot now). Unfortunately all the children in our life are super old now so I don't even know what to do with them or what is cool. Except black ni...

In year three we have *mostly* kept up the tradition of setting aside one Saturday a month for a fun adventure/Edi bucket list item. This tradition keeps me from the overwhelming feeling that I am wasting my life away doing work and chores and stuff and the inevitable consequence of jumping off a cliff to escape the mundanity. aNyWay.... this September we visited Aberdeen, mostly to re-experience the best breakfast we ever ate. We did that and otherwise ate exclusively Brewdog an enjoyed leisurely strolls around the city and campus. We added on the Stonehaven walk because it is one of those classic postcard places. I love it when a plan on paper becomes reality. This October we hosted Craig's parents for two weeks and toured the Highlands which is a whole other post. This November we finally checked Stewart Brewery off the Edinburgh Bucket List. It pairs nicely with a trip to Ikea. Sort of. Sorry about this picture Craig but yeah this supposedly short walk from point A ...

Okay so I have to tell you about the time that Wayne and Becky came to Scotland because we kind of didn't know if they would. They had to apply for passports and get their step count up and mostly mentally prepare for a Jill Meek Itinerary-- and they did it and they made it here! It was really really fun to show Craig's parents New College and St. Giles even under the cloud of jetleg. The next day we took a breather before embarking on our Highland adventure. Leg one: Glasgow  We got a quick peek at another Scottish city as we made our way west. We had intended to spend the day feerrying over to Dunoon where Craig's dad had been stationed in the Navy many moons ago, but this is as far as we made it and honestly I think it was for the best. pace-wise. Also this may have been everyone's favorite meal of the trip and it makes me so happy when people love things I choose! Leg two: Oban This is one of Craig's favorite places in Scotland. It is small so...

To celebrate two full years of living in Edinburgh we went to visit Edinburgh's first working distillery in almost 100 years. Holyrood Distillery is in our neighborhood. If you are visiting Scotland but have to miss the Highlands/Islands, you can now get a whisky tour in anyway! They had just opened when we toured, are in the gin phase now, but whisky coming in what... three years? I think it was our 9th ever distillery tour (counting whiskey and gin) and 7th in Scotland. We liked this one because of the flavor profile room, where you guess the different notes you are smelling in a fun interactive way. I also liked that because it is a short walk from our place it was a very chill visit and low-key activity to mark the end of another year here and the beginning of our... wow... third! In our 2nd year here we went some new places, tried some new things, and made some new friends. But mostly we settled in. We cozied up our house, found a haircutter we both like, and institute...

How did I never post about our trip last June to France and Germany? This was our first trip outside the UK together and when I originally tried to plan it for the previous summer, doing so just felt so complicated. I felt less sure about the logistics of getting around and mostly I couldn't figure out how to narrow down everything I wanted to show Craig or see myself. Fortunately, as always, I worked it all out perfectly. We rented a car to get from Frankfurt to Colmar which ended up being a really nice drive and not at all complicated until sorting out the parking situation as described by the AirBnB owner. Apparently there's free street parking in certain very random places and apparently we did find one of those places, down the way and around a couple corners, though I went back to check on whether the car had been booted a number of times. And then we were in charming Colmar and aside from me being very cranky about everything for whatever number of reasons (...