The return of a wanderer...

Johnshaven, Scotland
April 2010

Hello! It's been a long time and I have traveled maaaaany miles since I last posted here. Did you see my little video below? How are you? How have you been? Is it summer where you are? Do you have an adventure planned to celebrate the sunshine? I hope so and I hope you'll share them with us. Right now my big adventure involves algebra and techniques of supervision in an online school setting. Two more weeks until I get to wander again though and I.Can't.Wait! I'm going to try and post more often but whether or not I do is sort of part of the adventure, I think :)

Love,
 Laura

Crazy Golf. It's just what it sounds like.

I think life is like a game of crazy golf. Think about it. You'll agree.

Montrose, Scotland

We want to see your town.

Tell us the best places to visit.

Summer's coming!!

wandering_shoes@live.com

My journey to 25.

This little token makes me officially very close to ending my journey to 25.
That little blue sticker is my fave. It means it came from home.
I knew who it was from just by the handwriting even though I haven't seen it in years!
I think this is the first card he's ever sent me that our mum hasn't bought for him to sign.

I love you biggest brother. Thanks for remembering me :)

(Did mum tell you to send that?)

He ain't heavy, he's my brother...

This is a day in the life of my older brother, Andrew. He's going to take you on a little tour of his Saturday starting in our hometown on the East Coast of Scotland and you'll even be introduced to his lovely girl friend, Jenna...

The End.

We'd love to see a day in your life too.
Send them to us wandering_shoes@live.com
Get as many people involved as you can.
I dare you :)

Montrose, Scotland vs Seattle, Washington

Time:

Seattle: 5.18pm Thursday
Scotland: 1.18am Friday

Temperature:
Seattle: 30'c
Scotland: 10'c

Seattle: Extremely hot aaaaall week long.
Scotland: Extremely cool and rainy all week long.

Where would I rather be?

(Yes, that's my mum's feet again. Twice in one week. I know!)

Don't let the sun go down on me...

Have I shared my love of traditions here before? I'm not sure if I have but I'm about to!
The tradition that goes with this picture is this:

Y2K. My parents made plans to get up and go down to the beach to take pictures of the millennial sunrise. The first sunrise of the new millennium did not disappoint. It was absolutely beautiful and quite a lot of other people had the same idea to go take pictures of it. Since then it's something my mum and dad have done together every year. 

I got married in 2004 and came to America. My husband was able to join in the early morning adventure in 2004 when he was visiting. After that we haven't been able to join in until this last New Year when we were in Scotland again. It's something I've missed. Bringing in the New Year surrounded by family. So tired and excited. I'm not a very emotional person but there's something absolutely completely magical and sacred about watching the sun rise on a new year.

I have a picture frame on my wall. The top picture is a beautiful red and orange New Year sunrise taken in 2002 and beneath that is a lovely blue and green sunrise of New Years morning 2004 with husband and I clinging to one another with ginormous smiles plastered on our chattering, frozen faces.

I found him in 2002 and married him in 2004 (that's his foot on that first morning of 2004 at that beach). It seems extremely appropriate that those two pictures go together. 

New beginnings. Adventures. Challenges. So many memories. New traditions of our own.

What are your favorite family traditions? Have you incorporated your childhood traditions into your grown up life? Made new ones all together? I want to hear about it!

The Kilted Gypsy

Thistle colours.
Watching him measure and adjust to wear it properly.
The easy sway of the pleats against the back of his legs.
The boost in confidence.
His fake accent.
The look on his face when I tickle his knees.
His Scottish pride - me.

Specific North West

I love the Pacific North West.

It has the perfect weather balance for me:
hot summers and cool winters.
I was led to believe that it rained here all the time.
It doesn't.
Just sometimes and it's refreshing.
I feel quite at home here.

What's your favorite things about where you live?
If you could live somewhere else where would you pick?

DOA

Irn Shoes.

When I was wee my friends and I used to stand on cans and wedge them on our shoes. We would then continue to play with cans on our feet and make tapping or scraping noises on the hard ground outside. This would be kept up until the can fell off when they would get too loose to grip on to our narrow feet.

I re-created this Irn Bru can shoe this evening. It was a lot harder to get the can to mold to my foot – now that my feet are wider and longer. I walked around the house with it on for twenty minutes. Amazing.



I also love Irn Bru.

Made in Scotland from Girders... Barr's Irn Bru.

Home, there's no place like it.

Where do you call 'home'?

We are the dreamers of dreams...

There's no-one dreamier to me than my wee Cambi-man.
His imagination was equal to none.
His sweet cheekiness rivalled even my own. Ha!
His knowledge of dinosaurs would stand up to David Attenborough's.
I'm sure of it.

His break dancing wasn't very good but his enthusiasm made up for it.
He was bright eyed and bushy-tailed -
although he made sure we knew it wasn't "a tail" *ahem*

He's not mine and I know that.
I also know my heart can't detach from his.
He's my little pal.
Forever.


I hate to write that in past tense. 
He most certainly is alive and on this earth.
But people change.
People change people.
Change changes.
People changing changes other people.




Who do you adore?

Wish you were here.

Green – Post St Patrick's Day.

Whenever I come back to Scotland I always marvel and get excited at how green and beautiful the entire country looks. Flying into London, or into Glasgow makes me gasp with excitement and almost shed a tear of pride that I belong to something so incredibly beautiful.

Most tourists always remark at how green the place is, and I always laugh or scorn, but it's not until you've been to the western USA and you see how brown and desolate their beauty is that you realise that the green of the United Kingdom is stunning beyond all reason.

Today I went for a walk with my mother, and although it wasn't very scenic or exciting, it stirred up childhood memories and there really was a lot of green, which seemed appropriate for St Patrick's day being yesterday and the fact that my mother is Irish. Oh yes she yes.

The birth of an addiction:

I vaguely remember picking these shoes out from our local Woolworths (RIP).

That may even be my earliest memory.
This is one of my favorite pictures of me from my childhood.
It was taken at the Harbour in Irvine, Scotland.
I was born in Irvine.

I also remember learning how to write in Primary School and I'd start every sentence on a new line.

The teacher asked me why I did that.

I thought that was how it was meant to be done...

I wish my legs were still that tanned.

The Dad.

Protector.
Brave.
Generous.
Dedicated.
Funny.
Strong.
Wise.
Intimidating.
A bit niave.
Clever.
Kind.
Snuggly.
Bald.
Loyal.
Sensitive - a newer trait.


Love.

The Man

I wish he wouldn't try to blend in so much.
When he comes out of his shell he's the funniest person around.
I think he's amazing.

House rules:

People who have a house rule of having guests remove their shoes once they enter should be aware that:
1. It's embarrassing.
2. Sometimes my feet stink really badly.
3. I do wipe my shoes on the door mat.
4. I have a bad back and if they want my shoes off they have to remove them theirselves and then replace them when they kick me out.

5. I'm really not kidding. Tie them tight, thanks!

Romancing the Scot:

This is the exact spot where he tried to propose back in November 2003...