Thursday 22 December 2016

Recent walks & festive vibes

Post-wedding I felt I was clinging on to 2016 with my fingernails, so reluctant to let the year end. Feeling unprepared for 2017, and wishing I could go back and do all the wedding - planning and everything - again.

Thankfully I seemed to have turned a corner, and am now on a more positive - and currently festive - path. Being thankful for everything that 2016 was, but excited for everything 2017 could be.

However! This is not my yearly round up yet, that will come in early January. But time has run away with me as always, I haven't blogged in December, yet there have been some fantastic walks. This will probably be my last post before the end of 2016, so I thought I better sneak it in there before the Christmas festivities really begin.

The month started with fizz and wine, as we celebrated a month of no-booze with...plenty of booze. We wanted to be sure that we'd earned it though, so we completed our favourite 6-mile loop walk round Dryburgh/St Boswells/the Tweed - the walk we did part of on our wedding day, and will continue to enjoy time and time again.

A week later we went slightly further afield (although not much) and went up to the Three Brethren, near Selkirk. This is a walk I've had my eye on for ages (I'd printed the 'instructions' months ago) but it took until a December Sunday to get round to it.

It was a glorious walk, Dave and I enjoyed traipsing about in the heather, the gradual climb, and the views from the top. Tig was delighted to be out and about, and ran around like a dafty the whole time. The descent was slightly longer than I thought it would be, as we wanted to do a circular route, and the legs struggled with short inclines on the way back. But it was a lovely afternoon with plenty of good, fresh air.
 
 
 

The Three Brethren plus Tig & Dave!
 
 
Views to the Eildon Hills on the descent
Looking towards Selkirk

There's a local walk near Stow that we have done a couple of times, following the Lugate burn up to Ewes Castle (very much a ruin) then up and over the fields and back to Stow. It takes us a couple of hours, with enough hills to make us feel like we've done a 'proper' walk. It's a great walk to relieve any stress or tension.

And Tig is absolutely in her element. She runs at least twice the distance as us, and sleeps for ages when we get home.
 
 
 
 
 
Almost home! Stow

 

There's also a wee woods that we have named 'Helen's Woods'. It's such a bonny spot, and Dave and I can sit and contemplate life and its rich tapestry in peace there.
Looking towards Helen's Woods
All in all, a fab walk, and I've done it 3 times in December! It's also great at the moment because there are no cows in the fields, and I can relax knowing I won't be chased by a bovine beast.

I've also spent a fair chunk of the month at Dryburgh Abbey, another peaceful and restorative place, and this has allowed me to be a bit kinder to myself regarding the doubts and regrets I've had post-wedding (just read that back and it doesn't sound good - thankfully I don't regret the choice of husband! I'm just a terrible over-thinker who fixates on the details - mostly the negative ones - and heads off in a downward spiral, not seeing the woods for the trees).
 
 

It's great to feel a bit more positive about things now, and start looking forward rather than looking back. This is a time to enjoy being with family (terrible jokes and brussel sprouts aside) and cherish what we have. My thoughts recently have been very much with my cousin, and I'm sure he is still marching up hills and tripping over beside me.

Merry Christmas to you all!

AA x

Wednesday 30 November 2016

30 days has November...

Happy St Andrew's Day!

30 days of November have whizzed on by, and we're almost into the last month of 2016. I have so much I want to write about yet at the same time I have complete writer's block. I have so many wee projects to get started on yet no motivation, it seems, to do them. So I'm just letting time go by, all too quickly, and feeling the post-wedding blues take their toll.

There have been walks, plenty of dog walks, and days of hard work raking leaves. November has brought very mild weather and very cold weather.

Dave and I challenged ourselves to a "no-booze November" and we have managed it! (Well, as long as hold out for the next 7 hours!) I know people tend to do this in October but with our wedding that month, it wasn't going to work! We thought November would be perfect, and to be honest the detox was much needed after all the excesses of October!

In some ways it has been harder than I thought it would be - there have been plenty evenings I could have done with a glass of wine, and we have so much booze in the house from the wedding it has been a bit torturous! But in some ways the month has gone so quickly it doesn't seem like a long time at all to go without. It has been a useful thing to do, and whilst we'll certainly be enjoying a glass or two tomorrow night, we do feel like we've achieved something!

Autumn has certainly passed, and winter does feel imminent, despite the temperatures being mild again.

I have to get myself out of this post-wedding funk and start feeling excited about what's ahead. I want to continue the creative streak I found in myself in the build up to the wedding, and get to work on exciting projects. As always I will endeavour to walk more, and write more!
1st November 2016

Monday 31 October 2016

Autumn in all its glory: walking and wedding!

I usually feel so guilty when I haven't blogged for ages, but I think it is a sign of how busy life has been in the past few months that I haven't even found time to feel guilty about it!

My life was slightly taken over by planning a wedding (my own!) and thus I didn't have a lot of time spare to walk, let along write. However I got out with Tig as often as possible to give myself a break from making origami flowers or trying to suss out the table plan.

September flew by so fast. It brought a couple of interesting walks, a visit to Coldingham Priory, and a stand-up paddle boarding adventure with mum - great fun, would love to do it again! (No pictures of this unfortunately!).
October came round very quickly indeed and all of a sudden the wedding was just a week away. Whilst Dave was off gallivanting on his stag-do on the 1st of October, I took myself for a lovely walk in the Pentlands. What a beautiful day it was, and it heralded the start of a stunning month weather-wise. This is absolutely my favourite month of the year, with the leaves changing colour and these bright autumnal days. 
 
 
 
 
After a night of flower-making and fizz-drinking, a restorative walk in West Linton was in order. The 2nd of October was also a stunning day, and a morning stroll with Tig brought amazing views, complete with hot air balloon!
 
The week of the wedding of course shot by, and it all seems like a bit of a blur now. How can it be November tomorrow?!

I do intend to blog a bit more about the wedding in due course, but safe to say it was an incredible day. We had weather good enough to have the ceremony outside, and to walk (with Tig of course!) from the ceremony to the reception. The best and happiest walk of my life.

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Ten years ago...

This is quite an emotional post to think about, let alone write!

How to take a break from the emotion of wedding planning...take yourself to back ten years ago and get emotional about that instead!

Because it was on this day, 16th August 2006, I left bonny Scotland by myself for an adventure in North Carolina. An adventure that changed my life, took me to some incredible places, introduced me to some amazing people (four of whom will be coming to Scotland for the wedding in October!!), and gave me memories to last a lifetime.

When I look back at the photos I think I must have been confident to do something like that...go abroad for a year without knowing anyone...but at the time I was absolutely petrified. I kept a journal for the first few weeks (and then sadly didn't continue) and it is full of anxious thoughts and doubts.

I had an amazing time, that's for sure, and I would love to re-live that year, but it was definitely full on!

I studied at the University of Chapel Hill in North Carolina for the academic year, August 2006 to June 2007, but travelled to as many places I could - Washington DC, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Mexico, Chicago, Boston, and around North Carolina itself.

I loved the buzz of campus life - so much going on, so much pride in the university. It seemed incredible to me that there could be a full size American football stadium on campus, let alone a basketball arena and all the rest! 'Rushing' Franklin Street (the main street in Chapel Hill) after a basketball win or at Halloween was simply so much fun.

I even turned 21 in America, like turning 18 in Scotland all over again - sort of!

I made friends for life, and have been back to North Carolina a number of times since my emotional departure in 2007. It is a state that will always be close to my heart, but it's the state of mind of 2006 I miss the most...the sense of adventure, of freedom, of fear, of fun.
My dorm, Aycock, taken two days after I arrived
My room - I didn't have a roommate for the first few months!




The football stadium - on campus!

First football match
'Rushing' Franklin Street after a basketball win!



First road trip, to DC!
Halloween!
Finding a wee reminder of home on Halloween!
Lovely girls from my dorm...making stressballs I think!
Thanksgiving spent on the beach in Miami!
Golden Gate bridge

Fun on campus!

Philly
Family trip (minus Ross!) to New York!
Turning 21!


Mexico

 
Chicago
 

Gone to Carolina in my mind...