the anchor that holds...: settling in

So I wanted to start off this entry saying "Thank you" to everyone who has sent their love and prayed for me in my time here :) Whether it was known or unknown to me, through email, facebook, skype... or like one very special person did through flowers ;)... you have no idea how much I appreciate all of your prayers and the love you have sent my way. I feel very blessed to have the family and friends that I do...all I can say is that I can't wait to see you again!! :) <3

So it has been about two and a half weeks that I've been in Scotland and it has been quite the journey!! I am falling in love with this beautiful country and the people in it~

The semester is in full swing now, and I'm enjoying all my classes. And thankfully I was able to finish Coriolanus by my second seminar, not easy though..although when is Shakespeare ever easy?? All my classes have to do with the study of the relationships between literature and language (linguistics), and they've all been very interesting and engaging. I have a very nice schedule too, one that at least allows me to breathe in between classes (which wasn't really possible in Hunter, lol).

In my time here, I've been able to travel a bit on the nights and weekends~ here are some of the highlights accompanied with pics :)

Edinburgh & Stirling
Nora, Kaylin, Staci and I took trips to Edinburgh and also to Stirling (though we do live here, we wanted to take some time to explore it)~

My flatmate Andy, a native Scot, was nice enough to offer us a lift to Edinburgh and give us a tour of the city! On our way there down we had to had to stop and take pictures of the Ochil Hills. Amazing!


In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. - Psalm 95:4-5

Once we got into Edinburgh, I had to pick my heart up off the floor of the car because the driving here is crazy! And I thought I was from a city with crazy driving. But between the dizzy roundabouts, the opposite side of the road, the narrow cobblestone streets, driving stick shift...oh my goodness... you know that I was praying all the way through! lol.

So once we got to Edinburgh one of the first things we did was visit Scott Monument. Inside the monument there is a tiny little winding spiral staircase that if you keep going up will give you great views to the city. And we did- we made it all the way to the top!

view of Edinburgh castle from the top :D

castle + Moorfoot Hills

In our journey through Edinburgh, we found a adorable little tea shop called "Eteaket." I think I've found a place to replace for the time being my beloved Alice's Tea Cup in NYC! They have all sorts of teas and cakes and scones...the smell inside is amazing. I am definitely visiting you again Eteaket!! :)

i <3 t

We were also able to visit the "Museum of Childhood" which had all these weird and quirky children's toys from the 18th century to now. So after a long day of being tourists, we ate in the Robbie Burns cafe, where I (unfortunately) was able to try some of the famous Scottish haggis :/ Most people love it, and it actually wasn't quite that bad (tastes very much like corn beef hash), but I have a special affinity for sheep which makes it kind of weird to eat :/ So I'm sticking with fish and chips while I'm here for sure ;)

We took another trip to explore the city of Stirling ... we started by making our way up to Stirling Castle which are surrounded by the Town Walls~

i couldn't resist climbing it in the way that people in medieval times tried ;)

kaylin, nora and i... good times :)

We then made our way up to the Old Town Cemetery and Church of the Holy Rude. I couldn't believe that it was in this church where John Knox regularly preached and it was also where James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in 1567.

a "wee" history sidenote :) --> John Knox was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. He was known for praying to the Lord for his country...his prayer was continually "Give me Scotland or I die." Mary, Queen of Scots is said to have admitted that she was more afraid of the prayers of John Knox than of an army of ten thousand. Amazing stuff :)

Another pic of the day, gorgeous weather that day!~

nora and i in front of star pyramid, overlooking Old Town cemetery

After lots of sightseeing that day [and a little bit of shopping in the center of the city ;) ] we had lunch in a Scottish pub called "Drouthy Neebors" - ordered fish and chips which was really delicious...it was huge piece of fish though!

scottish brown sauce...yum :)

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So in everything, I simply see God's faithfulness. Not only has he provided for me to go on this trip and of course protected me in every way so far, but He has been leading me to the right people. I've been able to connect with the CU (christian union) on campus and become friends with sisters in Christ who can encourage me to grow in my faith and who I can pray with :) Tonight will be my second time going to their home bible study called 3:11, which has been such a complete blessing. Looking forward to the "banter" [their word for fellowship, lol :) ]

I've been able to visit Stirling Baptist and go with my friend Staci to Church at Stirling...both times I've walked out very blessed by the message and the time spent in worship~ here are some pics of Stirling Baptist: