It's been a whole month

It's been a whole month since the last time I typed. There never seems to be enough time.

Things are going well in Edinburgh. Well, in that respect I mean that things are moving at least. The days are getting really short here. The sun will peak up at about 8, but it is securely down by 5. I mean dark down. Not usual winter. It's not really bothering me like I thought it might.

I'm hoping to move my career along a more adult path. Starbucks just doesn't make me feel happy at all. I feel no reward in my work. I feel that I work, and that I'm faithful to do my job, but I'm constantly in a bad mood. I know I can't be the most pleasurable to be around. I see no purpose in my job. It's a waiting game until I'm off. I will say that some of the guys (and gals) at work are very encouraging. They are mainly pictured below.

I'm have asked myself in the past few days and weeks about my life. I have asked God about my life. Where is it headed? What am I doing? Natasha is very encouraging to say that I've shown great courage and moved out to Scotland, but I still feel like I'm a steam train on a monorail track. Melinda's mother, Sharon, encouraged me the other day with her saying that it was very rare for a person my age to know what they want to do. However encouraging that was, I still don't even know what I would like to do. What would make me happy and make me feel rewarded?

I keep thinking about how my call to ministry (to use an archaic word). What form is that supposed to take. I'm sure it's a lifelong thing, but I'm semi-psued0 seriously thinking about going to a seminary in the next 5 years. Nothing immediate.

Those are my thoughts for the moment because my life it looking forward to the next year. It'll be a big one I'm sure.

To wrap up, I'm happy I'm here. I have great friends, great relationships, a great family, and a fantastic girlfriend. My job sucks, but I'll just get a new one.

Goodnight.

Back to the Blogging Post.

Well, I'm back in Scotland. I'm officially a citizen now (although I always was) and have a passport. I'm excited about being back, but sometimes I wonder where I'm headed. I'm hopeful and happy though. It's cold here, but there is plenty of warmth, if you wanna find it.

I'm nannying two little kids,
William
He is 3 years old and has just started nursery school. He goes with me twice a week, and he loves to ride his bike there. He likes to play with race cars and build big train tracks with his Thomas the train set. He's a very adventurous kid who listens most of the time. He is mischevious and starts every sentence with "yeah, but." He likes to cuddle and we go out to the parks and play on the big slides.



This is Isla. She is like 20 months and she is a fan of the word, "No." She never actually says "yes", but either says "Hu" or just giggles. She has the cutest giggle and she knows she's cute. We play in the parks while William in nursery and she likes to slide all by herself. She likes to do anything and everything that William does. This can sometimes make her upset. She is also very possesive, but William is as well.

They are all down in London right now and I miss them. They are great kids and we have fun. I always have stories to tell at the end of the day.

I'm dating this girl, Natasha Bell.

She is Danish. (That means she is from Denmark, and she speaks Danish) We started dating 21 August, 2008 under the stars at Lake Gaston, NC. She's studying get her certification to teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and wants to travel to Indonesia as a teacher. She is currently nannying two kids as well. She is a very organised person and is very outgoing. She spent 3 months in the States this year. She's been living in Scotland for 13 years, but is ready to leave. She is a day older than I am and is an amazing cook. She is teaching me how to speak Danish, and hopefully she'll take me to Denmark sometime next year.

I'm also working part time at Starbucks. Most of the people I worked with last time are gone, but things are okay there. It's Starbucks.

That's my lot in life right now. I'll try and keep posting ideas I have here. I should have some new ones since I'm reading some very controversial material. (and yes, Drew, I'm reading the book you gave me.) We'll talk soon.

Ian

Edinburgh University

Now seems like a good time for a post.

I received a phone call from Edinburgh today saying that I had been rejected from the University of Edinburgh. This is news that has made me very sad today. I don't feel like working and I certainly don't feel like facing the future. I had so much on the line with that school. I won't say I had it all, but I was really looking forward to it.

So now what do I do?

Well I have not felt as bad as I thought. I feel that God is still greater than this and that this is part of his plan. I'm forced to concede myself to his will. Even though at this point it isn't something that I want to surrender to.

I'm still going to Edinburgh in September. Nothing was going to change that. Wait a second. I HOPE to go to Edinburgh this September. I don't want to be so prideful as to assume my future. That may be a reason for this whole thing. I'll go back and start back at Starbucks and go ahead and get my citizenship and certification as a TEFL instructor. This may actually move my plans to travel ahead an entire year.

I used to say to people who I asked that I felt that I was walking through a fog. I could see the immediate future but not much farther than that. Now I'm in the dark. I can't see but a few steps in front of me, but I've settled it to myself to be confident and content with my situation.

Ian

2 Great Things

There are two great things in life that I've really appreciated recently. The first is:

Tea

Tea is great, but not just for it's taste and health benefits. It's the ability of tea to be thoroughly enjoyed hot or cold. So if you leave your morning tea out too long it just becomes iced tea. If you get iced tea from a restaurant and leave it in your car accidentally, you can enjoy it later as hot tea. (well, if you live in Florida you can). I can pick up tea that's days old and it won't have gone flat or lost it's flavor. Iced tea can become watered down, but that doesn't seem to bother me like it does my friend Cliff. He gets mad.

The second thing is spots. By this I mean locations. You've got your spot, and you've got them everywhere. I have spots where I park my car at all the different restaurants. I have the spot where I like to stand and look over the restaurant. We spend our time moving from one self-determined spot to the next, which is fine by me.

I want you to listen

I would like everyone to listen to the song, "4 word letter" by mewithoutYou. I shed a tear over it yesterday, but that not what I wanna talk about today.

I felt contentment today. Yup, or at least the closest I think I've ever been. It was an incredible calm being completely satisfied in everything. I wanted for naught. It was actually kind of weird, but I just sat in it. Right there on I-4 traveling at about 60 miles an hour. It was quite an experience.

I'm once again taking a break from between my balloon shifts, and I thought I would write a little bit. Nothing else interesting to report today. So I'm off for now. Cheers.

Sitting Between the Shifts

I'm presently trespassing and loitering on the back porch of a Holiday Inn that expressly asked me not to on a sign out front while I was clambering over it.

Not to much to report in my life. I'm working a double today and its not that bad. I did rather well last night, and I also beat adventure mode in Smash Bros.

I did get stuck in traffic today. Do you know what it was for. Not an accident or a wreck or livestock. A kind yet scruffy looking gentleman was changing a lightbulb above a Florida semi-truck trail. And that's it. A lightbulb.

Cliff stayed with me recently. He was away from home for an entire week and didn't pack any clothes. I let him borrow a shirt on his last day, but he was telling me about how he sat in traffic on I-275 for an hour and a half because a water truck was watering the grass. how about that. ehh?

I say that to say that when you are driving a car you forfeit the opportunity to look at your surroundings. If you wanna see it. stop. Let the rest of us get to work. Kids are waiting on balloons.

It's about to start coming down out here, so I think i'll go ahead back to the truck.

Cheers.

James Murphy and mewithoutYou

I just got back from Ybor and I saw mewithoutYou play. It was something very special. There really isn't a way to describe it. If you listen to mewithoutYou then you know how it might have been, but it was really great. I also saw a band called Maps and Atlases which did a great job playing.

James left the other day. I've been trying to get work since then. Work seems a bit scarce at the moment, but I'm trying to take shifts everyday. James said he had the greatest week ever here so that was good. I hope everyone else is doing well.

Pray for me for finances and my application to Edinburgh University which should be in it's last legs.

Cheers