Lunchtime...

It is 12.51 (lunchtime + 21 minutes) and I am stuck at my desk. Johann, the German woodworker who has a studio across from our warehouse has decided to take his lunch at our table today. I have been avoiding Johann like Hermione avoids the bathtub since my last run-in with him this Spring. I was in the Palen-Kimball lunchroom purchasing a Pepsi from the now-missing pop machine when he cornered me to scold me on the evils of consuming unnatural sugar. After 30 minutes of telling me I was obese and making an offer of his personal training services, I was able to escape with a business card, a promise to call him and the memory of the moment scarred in my brain.

Molly threw the card away for me and helped me to laugh, rather than cry, over it.

I'll be eating my sandwich and drinking my Pepsi at my desk today.

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things..."

I promised myself I wouldn't write anything on the blog until I finished my 'thank you' notes but I just need to decompress for a few moments and this is the best place to do that...

And so... here are a few of my favorite things (in pictures):

Ryan, in his sweet kilt

Hermione and Sister Katie

www.yvestown.com (I love the hankies... not the cat)

Harry Potter!

Christmas tree

(www.escobarhighlandfarm.com/trees.html)

chocolate...mmm...

(www.babble.com)

Lilacs

(www.theflowerexpert.com)

Phew... I feel better already! Thank you, google images! :)

Panama canal

One of the lochs of the canal, it took us about 7 hours to travel the entire distance from Pacific to Atlantic.

These (5 of them) little boats (and Marines) were escorting the sub we saw as it transited through the canal.

A US SSN crossing from Atlantic to Pacific (under escort from 5 of the little boats shown above)

USS Dewey on the Pacific side.

One of the cuts that had to be completely excavated (basically draw a line from the top of that big mound on the right to the shore and account for all the water and you have an image of how much earth had to be moved to make just this one cut).

Excavation marks on the canal wall.

A Panama City Fire Training facility. :)

(Just on the South side of the canal)

The bridge of the Americas

Info on the canal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal

Brief on the canal: The Panama Canal is a ship canal which joins the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific ocean. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, it had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 9,500 km (6,000 miles), well under half the 22,500 km (14,000 miles) route around Cape Horn.[1] Although the concept of a canal near Panama dates back to the early 16th century, the first attempt to construct a canal began in 1880 under French leadership. After this attempt failed and 21,900 workers died, the project of building a canal was attempted and completed by the United States in the early 1900s, with the canal opening in 1914. The building of the 77 km (48 mi) canal was plagued by problems, including disease (particularly malaria and yellow fever) and landslides. By the time the canal was completed, a total of 27,500 workmen are estimated to have died in the French and American efforts.
Since opening, the canal has been enormously successful, and continues to be a key conduit for international maritime trade. The canal can accommodate vessels from small private yachts up to large commercial vessels. The maximum size of vessel that can use the canal is known as Panamax; an increasing number of modern ships exceed this limit, and are known as post-Panamax or super-Panamax vessels. A typical passage through the canal by a cargo ship takes approximately 8–10 hours. In fiscal year 2008, 14,702 vessels passed through the waterway with a total 309.6 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons.
While the Pacific Ocean is west of the isthmus and the Atlantic to the east, the journey through the canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic is one from southeast to northwest. This is a result of the isthmus's "curving back on itself" in the region of the canal. The Bridge of the Americas at the Pacific end is about a third of a degree of longitude east of the end near Colon on the Atlantic.[2] An estimated 14,000 ships pass through the canal each year. Only 1,000 ships per year passed through the canal at its beginnings.

Info on the USS Dewey: (DDG-105) will be an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. Dewey is the third Navy ship named after Admiral of the Navy George Dewey, hero of the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
She was authorized on 13 September 2002 and is scheduled to be built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. The keel was laid on 4 October 2006 at the company's shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
On 26 January 2008, Dewey was christened in a ceremony in Pascagoula, by Deborah Mullen, the wife of Admiral Mike Mullen. Dewey is set to be commissioned in 2010, as the 55th Arleigh Burke class destroyer.

Stateroom 3138

We were room 3138, on deck 3.

We were port side, aft end of the ship.

Post Costa Rica walk

Here is a post Costa Rica walk pic of Meg (this is after spending an hour in the shade and 20 minutes on the beach):

Pictures of us in San Juan at the fort and on the beach.

Pictures of us in San Juan at the fort and on the beach.

Both of us

Here is a pic of both of us in San Juan on day 14. :)

San Juan was GREAT, we had an awesome tour of old and new San Juan (after we got a new bus when our first one broke down), the forts were really cool and were even used by the Army as recently as WWII. The above is us in one of the observation points, it had a nice view of the city and the sea.

Costa Rica

Here is a pre-burn picture of Meg in Costa Rica :)

We both really liked Costa Rica and both want to go back some time.

M.S. Serenade of the Seas

We traveled on the Royal Caribbean Ship “M.S. Serenade of the Seas” (pictured above).

It was a GREAT ship!

They have a lot of facilities on board, they certainly keep you entertained while on board.

They have:

A rock wall
A mini golf course
A dance club
15 bars
8 cafeterias
3 swimming pools (1 waterslide)
An Art gallery
Fitness Center
Spa Center
Solarium
Arcade
Basketball court
Cinema
Stage Theater (with a show each night – my favorite was the magician Nick Lewin)
Casino
On-board shops
Internet areas (the ship hosts wireless internet connectivity at a charge of 55¢ per minute in most public spaces.)
A Library
Beauty Salon
Jogging Track
Golf simulator
3 big whirlpools

Ship info:

MS Serenade of the Seas is a cruise ship belonging to the Radiance class, owned by the Royal Caribbean International fleet. The Serenade of the Seas sails the Southern Caribbean during the winter and spring and cruises in Alaska during the summer.
Serenade of the Seas was built at Meyerwerft Yard in Papenburg, Germany and completed her maiden voyage on August 25, 2003. The ship is 294 m (965 feet) long, 32.3 m (106 feet) wide, has a 8.5 m (28 feet) draft, and has a cruising speed of 25 knots (46.3 km/h). There are 12 passenger decks, serviced by 9 passenger elevators (6 of which are glass and either look over the Centrum atrium or outside the ship through a glass wall). The ship holds 2,490 guests and 891 crew. It is powered by two smokeless gas turbines, each able to produce up to 25.25 MW (33,860 HP) of power. There are a total of 1,055 staterooms aboard, 829 of which are ocean view, 589 of those have balconies.

Link to information on the ship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Serenade_of_the_Seas

Royal Caribbean Link: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/

****Interesting Side Note: We were on the Serenades 300th voyage, the last night there they had a sort of birthday party for the ship, with cake for us. J

We made it back!

We made it back safe and sound last night. We flew into MSP via Atlanta from San Juan.
Our trip was great!

We went to:

San Diego

Sea Day

Cabo San Lucas, The United Mexican States

Sea Day

Acapulco, The United Mexican States

Sea Day

Huatulco, The United Mexican States

Sea Day

Puntarenas, Republic of Costa Rica

Sea Day

Panama Canal / Colon / Cristobal Pier, Republic of Panama

Sea Day

Oranjestad, Aruba

Sea Day

San Juan, Puerto Rico and travel home


Pictures and videos will follow.
-Ryan

Hankies

I have an obsession with hankies.
Yes. Hankies.

My Grandma McGuire is a hankie user and always has one or two stashed in her purse or pocket. She buys most of her hankies at garage sales for less than $1, and they all have pretty vintage patterns printed on the fabric. I find garage sales to be very dangerous places for me to frequent with cash in my pockets. I have neither the space nor the funds for that hobby.

I have found a few hankies at local antique stores, but I have a difficult time justifying spending $5-6/hankie when I know my Grandma spends so much less. Department stores sell men's hankies, but I have yet to find women's hankies in similar places. Why is this?
I have managed to find a few online places that sell hankies. A while ago I even bought some from the Moda Home site. I actually use them everyday. I love the vintage designs.

A few other hankie sites I've found online are:
Hank and Cheef - http://hankandcheef.com/shop.html
Hankettes - http://www.hankettes.com/qs/category/8/148/0/0

I haven't purchased hankies from either website, but I am thinking about it.

What kind of fabric would one use to make their own hankies?

It's been a while...

Every time Ryan sees me with the computer he asks if I'm updating our blog. It's taken me a few weeks, but I can take a hint! :)

I do apologize for the absence!

Since I last wrote, Ryan and I have added a new member to our soon-to-be-combined family; allow me to introduce to you Miss Hermione Jean McMurray Currens. Yes, she is named after Hermione from Harry Potter. Yes, we're dorks. ;) This picture was taken of her by my sister, Katie, the day after we picked her up from Ryan's cousin, Sarah. That was 2 weeks ago and my, has she grown! She is increasingly adorable, and I love taking her on walks! I get stopped by 90% of the people we pass... they all want to pet and hold her. I feel a bit like Santa Claus... bringing joy into people's lives. She is on a really cute kick at the moment where she picks up every stick she comes across and carries it until she sees a new stick to pick up and carry. This is far cuter than the cigarette butts she was in the habit of picking up previously.

In other news, Ryan and I met with the Pastor (David) from Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church today. David has happily agreed to marry us and today was the first of several meeting/marriage counselling sessions. He's a great guy and was excited to learn of all our little connections. He is an Eagle Scout, like Ryan, and his church is very active in social justice movements, which appeals to me. Two weeks ago was "Animal Sunday" (or something like that) at DAPC and we brought Hermione and Perry-dog (Ryan's guinea pig) to church. They were a big hit with the congregation, and being our first week there, our cute little pets really helped us to meet the other parishoners. The meeting itself was great: we talked about ourselves, learned about the history of DAPC (cool... but that's a tale for another post) and started to discuss the wedding. It was really nice and relaxed and comfortable... a great start to the process!

I hope to sort of hijack this blog for more crafting purposes, and my plan is to get some pictures of my works in progress up tonight (after I finish quilting my Mom's belated birthday quilt... oops!). I love reading craft blogs (especially quilting blogs), but I always feel a little bit voyeuristic reading other people's blogs without sharing my own. So... that's my plan! :)

Tomatin Distillery, Loch Ness and Ruthven Barracks

Hello! And welcome to Day 4.5 of our trip to Scotland (does it count as 0 or 1 days when you arrive in the middle of the day??)!

We started this morning with yet another hearty, delicious, full Scottish breakfast. Ryan is really enjoying his Daily Haggis, while I am just as happy with far less meat on my plate (and two servings of boiled tomato). :) After breakfast, we ventured to the Tomatin Distillery*, hoping to catch a tour. Unfortunately, they were not producing today, so we opted to watch the free 7 minute video and drink the free child-sized samples instead. Ryan said that the Scotch was a 10 year old, single malt whisky. We also sampled something called "Heather Creme" which was pretty good (mmm...liquid chocolate).

We then continued to drive North to Inverness. We parked about a floppity-jillion miles from the city center and walked in (upside: free parking and a little exercise). We stumbled across this little park-thing with an island in the middle of the river. It was really pretty. Ryan took a video. I took pictures. We liked it.

In city center, we went to a (free) museum documenting the history of Scotland and the Inverness area. It was fascinating.

Ryan's aunt and uncle, Nancy and Pat, gave him (thank you so much! we had a great time!!) two tickets for a Loch Ness tour. The tour actually started by bus as we drove from the city center to the Loch. The driver, Kenny, gave a fact-filled monologue on the history of Inverness in a deep Scottish brogue (regurgitated below, as I remember it... sorry for any inaccuracies!).

The second leg of the tour was by boat, on Loch Ness. The views were amazing; we could see a rain storm moving in from the South over Loch Ness, and the curtain of mist that proceeded it, while a clear blue sky shined behind us in the North.

The third leg of the tour was an hour free time at Urquhart Castle. That was my favorite part of the day. The castle is in ruins, and the land surrounding it is incredibly green. I wish I could use words or photographs to describe how beautiful it is.

The fourth (and final) leg of the tour was a history-packed drive from the castle back to Inverness, narrated once again by our dear guide, Kenny.

On our return trip to Kingussie, we stopped at the ruins of the Ruthven Barracks, just one mile East of our guest house. As soon as we stepped out of the car, the skies opened and started to pour on us. We made the trek up the hill to the barracks anyway, and were really glad for it: the hill on which the old fort sits offers a beautiful view of the surrounding area. It was totally worth having to sit in soaking wet clothes through dinner (fish and chips again... yes, I ate fish... and I liked it!!).

Alors, the history lessons of today:

1. The world is very old.

2. So is Scotland.

3. Inverness and the surrounding area used to be full of Picts, but was officially "founded" in 560AD by Saint Columba, Inverness got a royal charter from King David I in the 1100s and became a city in 2001 (um, apparently we saw this charter at the Inverness museum today... I don't recall this, but Ryan says it is so, thus it must be so).

4. The current Inverness Castle is pretty new, having been built in 1836. It is currently being used as a court and sheriff's offices, serving much the same purpose for which it was built. I wanted a look-see around the building, but the only way in seemed like a bad idea.

5. Bonnie Prince Charlie was born in exile in 1720, but tried to stage a rebellion against the British throne for the Scottish throne (which he believed belonged to his father, who would have been James III of Scotland/James VIII of England and Ireland... he was declared king of England/Ireland/Scotland by his cousin, Louis XIV of France... those countries, however, recognized his siblings Mary (and her husband/cousin, William d'Orange) and Anne as heirs to the throne during that time due to speculation about a baby-switch at James' birth and the usual Catholic vs. Protestant problems).

6. Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite uprising failed in 1746 and following the Battle of Culloden he was forced into exile in France.

7. Bonnie Prince Charlie's commander, Lord George Murray**, tried to continue the rebellion after BPC's lame abandonment but the Jacobites were again defeated at Ruthven (1 mile from Allt Gynack).

8. Urquhart Castle (a stop on the Loch Ness tour) was given to the Grants by "the crown" in 1509, who owned it until 1912. The Macdonalds often attacked the castle, as did the Jacobites, though I'm not quite sure whether they were in cahoots with each other or not. The Grants (some relatives of the 18th president of the US, apparently) eventually destroyed their castle so as to keep the Jacobites/Macdonalds from using it.

9. The Macdonald Clan (a Irish-Norse hybrid of people) liked to invade and destroy. A lot. The local sept was eventually sent to the Carolinas by the king, but judging from where we ate our midday snack yesterday, I think they snuck back in...

10. The entire Loch Ness area (Inverness, the Moray Firth, Loch Ness) is situated directly above the most active fault line in the U.K. It is partially because of this that Loch Ness is so freakin' deep (~800 feet). This makes it a perfect hiding spot for Nessie, but alas, the Loch Ness Monster is probably a myth. It is sad, but true. Still, I wouldn't go swimming in that lake. Just in case.

I'm sorry this turned into a novel! Ryan will probably insist on being the blogger tomorrow! :) The babbling brook outside the window has turned into a raging river thanks to the torrential downpour earlier today. I am going to try to let it lull me into a deep and restful sleep. I hope you are all well! :)

~meg :)

PS-we have lots more videos but our internet connection is unfortunately a bit slow. I guess the weather can really affect the connectivity. Anyway, sorry about the lack of videos!

PPS-sorry about the weird spacing. I can't get anything centered the way I want it.

*Ryan said he read that the Tomatin Distillery was the first in Scotland to be Japanese-owned.

**Perhaps these Murrays of Atholl are ancestors of my McMurrays?? 1746 is a bit recent th

Scottish Ambulance in Inverness.

Scottish Ambulance in Inverness.

I thought maybe Herker and Dad would get a kick out of a quick shot of what their emergency vehicles look like. This is a pretty typical color scheme.

-Ryan

Inbhir Nis on Abhainn Nis (Inverness on the River Ness)

We went up to Inverness by train today.

This video was taken from the foot bridge over the River Ness near the City Centre. The river runs between Loch Ness / Caledonian Canal and the Moray Firth.


Interesting side note- when we picked up a city map at the information center it was not in English. Inverness is a bit of a Gaelic stronghold (hence the title of this entry). Obviously we managed, but it was interesting.

Info on Gaelic in Inverness: http://www.invernessgaelic.org/

Info on the "Free Church of Scotland" http://www.freechurch.org/about.htm

So far we have seen a Free Church of Scotland in Kingussie, Ft. William and Inverness.

The First World War, the Great War and the War to End All Wars.

This is the WW1 monument in Kingussie. For such a small town, it has a LOT of names on it.

It is a sobering reminder that over 800 thousand UK troops died in the first World War, and it is about half a block from our BnB.

-Ryan

Ft. William

We made the trip to Ft. William today, they have an interesting city centre and as you can see below a nice central square. We also got to enjoy some bagpipe music while in Ft. William.

We also did a little road trip up the wrong road for about 20 miles, but on the plus side we got to see some great highland views and the Southern tip of Loch Ness.

-Ryan

Kingussie Fire Station

I had to find the Fire Station, it took a little looking, but here it is. (Not pictured is the city's ambulance, they park it out on the street as, I assume, they have no room to park it in the station.)

-Ryan

Some Great pics

Meg and I at Edinbrugh Castle (yes it is raining).

Edinbrugh Castle from 31 July 2009. Amazing castle, hard to believe men built this without modern equipment.

Highland View

A GREAT view we got of the highlands when we pulled onto a layby between Ft. William and the South end of Loch Ness.

-Ryan

Farmer leaving farm as we pull into a layby

Thought a few of the folks back home would enjoy seeing a Scottish farmer at work.

-Ryan

Ft. William, Scotland

One side note: the white statue in the background, near the center of the lawn is another WW1 monument.

UK Car

Here is a quick video of our rental car.

-Ryan

Beautiful view from an A82 latby

This video is one I shot while Meg was getting regular pictures, it is the view from a layby on the A82 between Ft. William and Loch Ness.

-Ryan

Scottish Roads

This is a quick clip of us driving down a Scottish Road between Kingussie and Ft. William. While it is very pretty, most Americans will notice how narrow it is too...... (Not to mention driving on the left side of the road takes a totally different eye to guage)

-Ryan

Swing Bridge on A82

B & B

Our BnB is Great, we are in the Johnstone Clan room (see attached picture of their tartan).

This morning we had a GREAT Scottish breakfast of:

Toast

Coffee

Tea

Orange Juice

Fried Eggs

Bacon

Sausage

Black Pudding

Haggis

Boiled (?) Tomato

Mushrooms

Potato Scone

Coming soon will be video of today's trip to Ft. William and the South end of Loch Ness (oops).

Main Street Kingussie!

This is a quick shot of the main street in Kingussie, Scotland.

Meg is running the camera.

FYI - "right" is South and "left" is North.

Train Ride!

First Post by Ryan

Hi, doing my first post ever on a blog now. Don't have much to say other then I am excited to go and excited to have a couple of weeks off of work.

We are taking the Amtrak train to the windy city bright and early on Thursday to catch our plane, should be fun.

Blog education

I learned something new today about blogging! I originally set up this blog with an email address I figured Ryan and I could share, thinking we'd just have to write our names at the end of each post to specify who had written it. But apparently we can post separately, with our own names, linked to our own email addresses. I'm not sure how that will work for Ryan, since he uses yahoo and not gmail (and blogspot is in cahoots with gmail and google), but we'll figure it out. I'm curious as to whether this links to my other blog...

Anyhow, I really don't have anything interesting to say today. I just thought I should write something. :)

My grandpa McGuire sent me this video today, and while I'm not sure it's real, I find it hilarious:

http://video.telegraph.co.uk/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=17075685001

Unfortunately I forgot to take a video this weekend with our new video camera! Oops!

Have a great day! :)

"What's in a name?...

...that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet..."

Well. I'm not sure quoting a Shakespearan tragedy about two "star-crossed lovers" is the proper way to start a blog in the countdown to my marriage, but I couldn't think of any better titles for this post. Hopefully this isn't bad luck...

I'm not quite sure why I picked this line from JRR Tolkein's prophetic poem in The Lord of the Rings for out blog title (oh, yes, our blog. did I forget to mention that I will be sharing this blog with Sweet Ryan? well, more on that later. I ought to tell him first). I'm certainly not one of those weird LOTR fans who has read the books multiple times or insisted upon dressing like Gandalf or Frodo for the movie premieres (Harry Potter is a whole 'nother story), but I do appreciate the themes of adventure, friendship, loyalty and love that give the story depth.

The wikipedia explanation of the poem, All that is gold does not glitter is somewhat unrelated to my favorite line of the poem, and the inspiration for the title of our blog : "Not all those who wander are lost." I could probably make a lovely analogy to the crazy paths that life takes us down on the way to finding our destination, or our calling, or love. I could speak on how we often feel lost, or like we're wandering along a road that has no end and no cool rest stops along the way... and I think that would accurately describe the appeal of Tolkein's words (though that is perhaps not how he intended them). But... I'll refrain from trying to put words to the philosophical confusion now rolling around in my head and get on with this post! :)

Here is the entire poem, as reproduced by (and hyperlinked to) wikipedia.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

The purpose of our blog (again, must remember to tell Ryan) is not to discuss JRR Tolkien or my very strong desire to wear my Harry Potter costume to our 31 October wedding (see picture... my little-big brother and I), but to give frequent updates as we travel to Scotland next week and as we start our life together.* Ryan's parents, Kari and Jim, very generously gave us a video camera for our engagement. We can connect it to our laptops and up(down?)load videos with the touch of a touch-screen button! It is such an awesome gift, and Kari had the great idea that we could share Scotland with them using the video camera and a (this) blog. The only videos I've taken so far are of Ryan waving at the camera. I will try to get him to do something a little more blog-worthy this weekend and upload it as a test video.

If you've made it this far, thank you for listening to my rambling! :) I will try to include more pictures and less words in the future! :)

~meg

*This is NOT a wedding blog. If I start rambling on about the pros and cons of burgandy versus white napkins, or taking a poll on whether we should hire circus animals to entertain our guests while we take wedding photos, kindly leave me mean, nasty messages in the "comments" field!