HarshSilk: April 2009

30 April 2009

Arizona in Spring, 2009

We were fortunate enough to have had many, many visitors this Spring
-Matt's parents, Mary and Roy
-our friends Andy & Jenny (also visited the Grand Cayon)
-Matt's brother, Mike, and his wife, Jeannine (no pics but great mountain biking)
-My mom, Kristine
-a lunch visit from our friends Dave and Clover and their baby
-my Uncle Don for dinner visits
-Matt's 2 best friends Nick and Dave

Southwest visits:
-visits with my Aunt Maggie and Uncle Ted at their place in New Mexico
- my brother Christian and his wife Natasha in Las Vegas

How awesome! It's the greatest thing about being back in the states--makes living in Phoenix more tolerable:) We'll let the pics tell the stories.

29 April 2009

Celebrating in London, January 2009

A trip to London has been on our calendar since we had decided to leave the UK. We used our frequent flyer miles to get tickets to London for our friends' wedding, Sam & Kristin. Not only was this trip a celebration of their marriage but it was also a celebration of reuniting--with friends and with the UK!! This was just the greatest trip! There were 6 of us--me, Matt, Claire, Matt Risdale, Judi and Linda, all packed into Linda's studio flat in Nottinghill. It sounds like a potential nightmare but it was SO much fun! And there were all of our other great friends from Edinburgh--so good to see old faces!! On the first night we all met up in a pub and then the second day Matt and I spent time walking around London with our friend Heather who came over from Bristol. Saturday was the ladies lunch at a very swanky restaurant in Islington and then Saturday was a great mingling night in a traditional British pub. There was a fun pub quiz and drinks to be had. And the Sunday wedding was lovely and the dancing included Hava Nagila, ceilidh and disco/booty shakin'. It was so hard to leave the UK. But harder to leave all of our good friends. I think the time and distance between the our last time together and the wedding made us realize how much we all get along and love each other---and now miss each other. We feel so lucky to know such wonderful people--even if they are miles away.

New Mexico, Thanksgiving 2008

My brothers and their wives came down to Phoenix for Thanksgiving this past year. We all piled into a mini-van, with Syd, and headed over to Mule Creek, New Mexico where my Uncle Ted and Aunt Maggie have built a beautiful home. We had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying the countryside. Of course there was loads of Thanksgiving food! And there was a lot of work on Ted's wood burning hot tub which we later tried out:)

Our puppy, Syd

We moved to Phoenix at the very end of September and just a few weeks later we brought a puppy home. We decided we'd name him Sydney in honor of the cool Australian city--we call him Syd for short. And our 90 year old neighbor thinks it's 'very dignified'. He's a dood, that is a goldendoodle. His mom was a golden retriever and his dad was a white poodle. Syd is such a great dog that we often forget he's a puppy. He's grown over 40 pounds in the last six months and we have no idea how big he'll get. We're hoping he won't be pony size, but we'll love him just the same. Please, meet Syd.

28 April 2009

Australia!! Sept 2008 (Engagement:))

Australia!! Sept 2008

After our time in New Zealand we headed to Australia. We wanted to go to New Zealand and Australia from all of the great travel stories we heard from friends and family. And we really wanted to visit our friend Liz. She was in my Public Health Masters program. We flew into Brisbane where Liz lives and spent over a week with her. She was one of the absolute greatest hosts! We saw and pet kangaroos and even held koalas! We went to see a cool Picasso exhibit, we saw an American singer from CA (Brent Dennon), we ate so much good food! We also headed to Byron Bay for a few nights of camping and the best was the surfing lessons! There were 2 instructors and 4 of us! The boards were beginner boards but we all got up and Matt reallyy had a knack for it! SOOO much fun! We also saw whales of the coast near the easterly most point of Australia...it was amazing!! We hated saying good bye to Liz:(
We then headed up to the North of Australia to Cairns where the Great Barrier Reef is. We stayed north of Cairns in a small, quiet beach town called Yorkey's Knob. We saw dolphins swimming and playing in a bay at our beach--so amazing! And this is where Matt and I got engaged! Years ago we went snorkeling in the South China Sea and it was one of favorite times together. Basically it's like exploring a new world! So we got engaged while snorkeling on the Reef! Of course, my motion sickness dotted the occasion which potentially made it more memorable:)
We then headed down to Sydney for the last few days of our trip and this is where we went ring shopping! We bought the engagement ring in an Old Victorian Arcade mall at an Antique jewelry shop. It was perfect!
We loved Sydney with its cool neighborhoods, beaches and surfing right in the city, urban downtown, great Asian food---we wished it was in North America. Instead in tribute to this great city, we named our dog after it.
All in all our trip to this part of the world was so fabulous--we can't wait to go again:)

New Zealand!! Aug 2008

Before officially coming back the US, we wanted to go on a long trip before we came back to the few days of vacation in the US:) Matt had a wild trip since he traveled to the Netherlands for a conference before we headed down under. He flew back through the US and we met in the San Francisco airport. We were overjoyed when we heard that the flight to Auckland was only a 12 hour flight--we thought it'd be 19 or more! The flight from Seattle to Edinburgh is about 10 hours so this was nearly the same:) We spent all of our time on the south island. The first day we felt as though we just flew to Scotland because we arrived on a rainy, cloudy day and drove around the part of the island with rolling hills and sheep. The next day we awoke to huge mountains, which certainly do not exist in Scotland. Overall the south island of New Zealand is a gorgeous and rural. You are either mesmerized by ocean or mountains. We stopped in Queensland near the Remarkable Mountains and did a luge ride down the mountain (courtesy of my brother Christian). We then headed down to Milford Sound which was a wild trip since there is one road in and you end up driving into a mountain tunnel that looks like a mouse hole when you approach it. The hills and mountains look very tropical but are covered with snow--it's amazing! We spent our time driving around and checking it all out and we just loved it. Our favorite was a little ski town called Wanaka, they had great beer and wild pizza (venison and crainberry sauce) and amazing hiking. New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places on earth and we hope to go back again.

22 April 2009

Christian & Natasha's wedding, August 2008

Christian and Natasha celebrated their wedding at in August 2008. They had a small celebration of about 50 people in the mountains near Seattle. We spent 2 nights in cabins with no electricity or heat. It sounds more rustic than it felt since there was a wood burning hot tub and sauna! They had a sweet celebration on a sunny day and we celebrated into the night. It was a very memorable weekend!

Our return home! Chicago, WR reunion

We made our grand return home in July 2008!! We stopped in Chicago to meet up with my good old friends from my hometown, Wild Rose. And we also were able to spend time with our friend Nikki and attend her graduation party in the US. So much fun!

Mary and Roy's visit, June 2008-Graduation

Mary and Roy's visit, June 2008

Matt's parents came to visit us in Edinburgh in June 2008. We enjoyed good eats in Edinburgh, including high tea. We also took a trip into the Highlands and visited whisky distilleries and enjoyed the Scottish countryside. We stopped at Balvenie and got a private tour, thanks to plugging our friend Sam's name. But the big event was Matt's graduation (and our friend Nikki's too). It was great to have Mary & Roy there to help us celebrate. After the ceremony our friends and family and Nikki's friends and family gathered at a pub/restuarant near our house for drinks and dinner.
I've also attached my graduation photos from November 2006, just to keep grad photos together.

Ireland, May 2008

Our friend Jessica was in the UK for a conference and we decided to meet in Ireland so we were able to see our friend Linda too. We stayed for a weekend and mostly just enjoyed each others company. Of course this went nicely with Eurovision, beers, and a long walk north of Dublin (Dalkey-where all of the famous Irish stars live-Bono, Sinead O'Connor, etc). We also checked out the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) which played an important part in Irish history (and has been the setting for several movies).

Lake District-Matt's 30th Bday

A group of us headed down to the Lake District in England for Matt's 30th birthday. This is a gorgeous national park in northwest England near the Scottish borders. Think of great big rolling hills, sheep roaming fields, green grass, stone fences, windy roads and, of course, lakes. We stayed in a big cottage/house near the sea.
We were fortunate enough to see a St. George day celebration in one of the little villages complete with a dragon and a save damsel in distress, saved by George on his bike. Those are all the pictures that look like they're out of Monty Python. There was also a may day pole which little children danced around.
We did some hill walking with one walk in particular being pretty steep up hill and incredibly windy. The way the earth and sea collided nearly made you dizzy it seemed to be so angled.
It was a nice weekend of fresh air, good food and friends and Matt officially entered what I like to call his 'sturdy 30s'.

Paris, take 2, Spring 2008

Paris, take 2 Spring 2008

Matt had a dream of going to Paris every year while we lived abroad-- we didn't quite make that. We missed 2 years, well, only one if you count our lay over in Charles De Gaulle. We did make it to Paris before we left Europe. We had about 4 days there and had a better time than the first trip, if that's possible. The best part about this trip is that we took advantage of a new scheme in Paris called Velib. It's basically like a library check out system for bikes. You check out a bike and ride it from point A to point B and then return it in one of the very convenient racks. If you ride for under 30 minutes it's free!! It's amazing how far you can get in Paris in 30 minutes. I am not sure I've ever had a bigger smile on my face than riding through the streets of Paris near the Jardin du Luxembourg.

We also headed out to Versailles which was awesome. We actually watched the Marie Antoinette movie with Kristin Dunst before we went to get ourselves in the mindset of the Louis'. We downloaded a free podcast tour and listened as we went through. The grounds are Huge and spectacular. We were there in early Spring so it wasn't in bloom but it was still totally impressive.

We met up with one of Matt's parents' friends, Susan, who happened to be staying in Paris and had a lovely lunch. And we went to the Musee D'Orsey--an amazing museum that is in an old train station on the Siene. We also had another free podcast to guide us here.

I cannot say enough how much we love Paris. I really do wish we could go every year.

17 April 2009

Kristin's 30th-LDN 2008

A group of us from Edinburgh headed down to London to surprise our friend Kristin for her 30th birthday!! It was a great group of people and there was a lot of fun to be had with the mustaches that someone brought! This was our last time visiting Sam and Kristin in LDN before their big move to NYC.

Nick, Lindsey, Dave and Kiren visit-NYE!

After our trip to Malta with Zach and Edie, we met Matt's friend's from Northwestern for a few days in London. We headed up to Edinburgh to celebrate New Year's Eve. Edinburgh has 3 days of celebrations. My favorite is the torch light parade from the palace to Calton Hill. Once on top of the hill they torch a viking ship, light off fireworks and blow the bagpipes. The second day used to be the biggest ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance) in the world on George St but now they have a bunch of different stages and all kind of wild puppets and things. We actually ended up staying in to bring in the New Year. But the next day Dave geaded to join all the other crazies as the welcome the new year with a jump in the freezing water outside of Edinburgh (Firth of Forth). My friend Kiren then joined us and we headed up to the Highlands to spend a night at our friends cottage. Yet another great visit!

Z & Edie's visit, Malta, Christmas 2007

Zach and Edie made a quick stop in Edinburgh before heading off to Italy to celebrate their belated honeymoon. We then met them in Malta for a Christmas getaway. Malta is a small island in the Mediterranean off the coast of Italy and Libya. Matt and I made plans to go there and when we heard Edie and Zach were making their way to Europe we suggested they join us. We spent a few days on a smaller island, called Gozo. With dramatic cliffs, amazing ocean scenes and the cool Muslim and European architectural it was a great place to spend some lazy days. We also spent time on the main island in the capital. Of course the events that transpired before, during and after this trip are now stuff of legend, and only things movie scripts are found on, we still look back fondly at sunny Christmas day in Malta.

Ireland, Thanksgiving 2007

We headed on over to another island in the Atlantic to visit our friend Linda who was studying to get her MBA at the University of Dublin. The flight took about 35 minutes, up and back down again. We were greeted by Linda's sweet brother, Nial, who made us a traditional fry up breakfast--think black pudding, bacon, beans, toast and eggs. Linda was a wonderful host and it's always so good to see her. We celebrated Thanksgiving with her MBA coursemates as a few of them were American and had a dinner with 3 turkeys! Linda showed us all the hidden gems in Dublin. We loved it here. I think mostly because it reminded us so much of America. There's something different between the Irish and the Scots. They are both friendly, but I think the Irish warm up a bit quicker. And when the Irish accent swirls around you and you can't pick out any one voice, you could be in Anytown, USA. We said we'd come to Ireland when we were homesick, certainly a shorter flight:) Oh and the Guiness really does taste better in Ireland.

Matt submits! Sept 2007

After a few years of very hard work, Matt submitted his PhD at the end of September 2007! While the actual hand in was absolutely anti-climactic, our friend Sam joined us for some celebrating at a great whisky bar in Edinburgh. And then we had friends over for eats and champagne.

16 April 2009

2 more summer weddings, 2007

2 more Seattle summer weddings, 2007

In September 2007 my brother, Zach, got married to his sweet lady Edie. Matt and I headed to the PNW for 2 weeks. It was such a lovely celebration! It was so good to see family and friends. My mom hosted the rehearsal dinner but Matt and I were the welcomers and MCs. Matt, Christian and I spent one day making a slide show for the event which was a hit:) The wedding day itself was a lovely summer day with Mt Rainier in the background.
We then headed up to Vancouver to celebrate our friend Jessica's wedding. We know Jess from our early Edinburgh days. We were reunited with some old friends, Chris and Michael, for the celebration. And we then flew back to Edinburgh from Vancouver.

Granada with Nikki 2007

After our friend Nikki turned in her PhD dissertation (hooray!), her and I headed to the south of Spain for some relaxation. Spain is a very popular destination for the Brits. It's a short flight and provides lots of sunshine. We stayed in a great hotel in Granada, where Nikki used to live and study Spanish. We had long days of swimming, laying by the pool, taking afternoon siestas and having late night dinners. And I was so happy Nikki's Spain Spanish was so good! The whole trip was so great!

14 April 2009

A murder Mystery Party-Matt 29th

We hosted a Murder Mystery-Who Dunnit Party for Matt's 29th birthday. It was Las Vegas themed which allowed for some ridiculous characters and all of our friends got really into dressing up as and acting like their characters. It was a fun evening of role playing and celebrating:)

PS--You'll also see Matt's PhD beard in one of these shots. Most people thought it was and looked foolish. But I'll stand by my man and vouch for how anti-climactic turning in your PhD can be. All those years of work for someone just to take it and say 'thanks'. Don't they have champagne or something? So Matt grew his beard out in the final stretch to have something symbolic to shed when he was finished. That said, I am glad it is now gone:)

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and Cappadocia, Turkey

Turkey 2007

We visited Turkey over Easter 2007. There are A LOT more vacation days in the UK and Europe which was so nice for us. We were able to come back to the US now and then and also travel a bit on the continent. Now if only the US would catch on:)

We spent a few days in Istanbul--we saw Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque and cruised the Bosphorus River which separates Europe from Asia. We also went to the Istanbul International Film Festival and saw the Dixie Chicks documentary, which we loved. We ended up getting what we coined as 'Instan-bowels' so we actually didn't eat much Turkish food. We hung out in this cool neighborhood called Takim and ate all sorts of different food. We were thanking globalization at that point.

We also headed into south-central Turkey to an area called Cappadocia. This is a unique area since much of its landscape is influenced by a very old volcano that erupted years ago. Now the landscape looks like chimneys. And the rock is so soft that people live in the caves. And we actually stayed in one!! It was amazing!! A fantastic trip!

Christian & Natasha visit and Thanksgiving 2006

My brother and his wife, Natasha, came to visit us in the UK over Thanksgiving 2006. We met them in London and spent a day there with them. We headed up to Edinburgh and celebrated Thanksgiving. We had 15 people over for turkey dinner. And although we thawed the turkey for days and days it was still frozen. Check out the photo of Matt with the turkey in the bathtub trying to thaw him out!
We also headed to Isle of Skye on the west coast of Scotland, with my friend Heather too. This is an amazingly gorgeous island that has beautiful scenery (like the shots you see on the Harry Potter movies). We stayed at a great bed and breakfast (the best porridge) and explored the island for just a few days. It was a great visit:)

Spain 2006 with PH girlfriends

After we turned in our dissertations, myself and 4 girlfriends headed off to southern Spain to recover. We had a great time hanging out at the beach and eating good food. We also went to Granada to see the Alhambra. It was just what we needed. Even though most of us we're getting over being terribly sick it was still an amazing time.

Sailing coast of Scotland, Sept 2006

Sailing September 2006

Matt & I sailed the coast of Scotland twice while we lived there. Once in 2003 and this time in September 2006. We went out with my lovely, wonderful girlfriends from my Public Health program--please meet Heather, Liz and Jane. And our skipper, Paul. We sailed around Isle of Arran. If I am looking a bit worse for wear that's because we spent the night in a very choppy bay which had the boat rocking to and fro all night long. I wasn't the only one to lose breakfast. But it was still beautiful!!

12 April 2009

3 Seattle summer weddings, 2006

We decided to leave Edinburgh for about 2 months the summer of 2006. There were 3 weddings in Seattle that summer, and we didn't want to miss one. The first wedding was Mike, Matt's brother, and Jeannine's. The second was our friends Dave and Clover. And the third was our other friend's, Steve and Melissa. Also included are some random Seattle summer shots.

Cambridge and London June 2006

Matt was awarded a Marshall Scholarship (similar to a Rhodes Scholarship--like President Clinton received) which is why he was studying at University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Many of the scholarships recipients attend Oxford or Cambridge University. Here we are on a visit to one of Matt's fellow scholars and our good friend, Andy, at Cambridge. It was a beautiful, sunny weekend. We punted on the river and had a formal, traditional dinner at his college (no lights, just candles and a very ceremonious walk in by the professors). We then went to London to visit a friend of Matt's from Northwestern, Charley.

My cousin Amanda's wedding, April 2006

Amanda's wedding, LA 2006

My cousin Amanda got married in April of 2006. Amanda and I were very close while growing up since my Uncle Don would have us (me and my brothers) for a visit twice a year. Matt and I were lucky enough to be able to go to Amanda's wedding in LA. It was a wedding celebration and a family reunion all in one weekend. It was so great to see all of my family--I can't even remember the last time we were all together like that. And it was also the last time I saw my dear, sweet, spry grandmother.

Matt's 28th birthday

Matt's 28 birthday

We celebrated Matt's 28th birthday with many meals, well 2. Our first was a gathering at our favorite place called Kebab Mahal. This little gem served amazing Indian and Pakistani food at a very cheap price. This place is certainly on the top of our list for places we miss.
We also went to a local cafe to listen to jazz and have a fancier dinner with friends.

Firbush with MPH coursemates, April 2006

From Firbush with MPH coursemates

My Master in Public Health program organized a trip to a environmental center, Firbush, in the Highlands of Scotland. We were able to sail, mountain bike, kayak and do lots of other fun things. My program had people from over 15 countries which was so cool! Matt joined us for our weekend adventure. We biked over 30 miles around Loch Tay. Lakes in Scotland are long, skinny and deep--and the scenery is breathtaking.

Ceilidh and cottage-Ran's 30th, 2006

For our friend Ran's 30th birthday we organized a ceilidh to celebrate. A ceilidh is Scottish traditional dance that is similar to square dancing. It is SO fun!! You don't need to know what you're doing because they give you instructions before each dance.
We also swept Ran off for a night in a cottage/hostel near the Isle of Skye. It was a gorgeous drive and a great time!

09 April 2009

Italy 2005 and Hogmanay

Italy December 2005 & Hogmanay in Edinburgh

We went to Italy and the Netherlands instead of heading home for Christmas in 2005. You may be saying to yourself, 'They can afford to go to Italy but they can't afford to come home?' And, well, the answer is yes. I believe our tickets to Italy cost us $40. I didn't leave out any zeros or mess up the exchange rate. Yes, that cheap--thank you discount airlines:) These discount airlines fly you, usually in minimal comfort, to airports outside major European cities. For instance, we flew into Pisa to get to Florence. And also, if you traveled with us, you'd know that we do everything on the cheap: lodging, eating, sight seeing.

Anyway, we had a wonderful trip to Italy. We spent a few days in Florence where we saw the Duomo, Michelangelo's Venus and simply enjoyed the quaint streets and atmosphere. We then went to Rome and saw all the sights we could: the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the fountains, the Vatican, Tiber Island. Of course, the food and coffee were amazing! Matt and I could eat breakfast in the morning and then would have to get a slice of pizza just a few hours later after watching it being made through the window. We loved Italy!

We then spent Christmas day with our Dutch friend, Judith, and her family in the south of the Netherlands. They were kind enough to welcome us into their home and share their traditions with us. A short train ride took us to Brussels where we spent a night with Judi's friend.

We returned to Edinburgh to celebrate Hogmanay, which is the Scottish word for New Years celebration. However, they celebrate for several days, compared to our one. Our friend from Seattle, Brennon, happened to be in town for it and we joined up with my Public Health coursemates to ring in 2006.

A little Christmas celebrating, 2005

December 2005-Christmas celebrations

A few shots of Christmas celebrating in Edinburgh. My mom sent us a bunch of gifts which we had fun opening. And our friend Heather had a Christmas party for my Public Health program. The Brits certainly know how to celebrate Christmas--there is lots of good cheer with co-workers at work, with friends, on the streets, in the shops. Somehow it feels different than in the US, but I can't quite put my finger on why.

Christmas Whisky Meeting 2005

We were proud members of the Edinburgh Water of Life Society (EWOLS, aka Whisky Society) while at the University of Edinburgh. Every few weeks a great group of people would meet up to try whiskies from around Scotland and the world. It helped you build true appreciation. We met many of our closest friends through the Whisky Society. And lucky for us, our friend Sam was President and his now wife was sort of the first lady. He's still enjoying whisky for fun (check him out, Dr Whisky, at http://drwhisky.blogspot.com/ ) and also getting paid for it at Williams & Grants.
The Whisky Society Christmas meeting was the greatest one because everyone dressed up and brought yummy things to eat (we thought bakalava would compliment whisky nicely). And Sam even wrote a song about the Whisky Society to some tune...funny thing is that I can't remember how the real one goes--Sam's was so catchy:)

Halloween 2005

Sam & Kristin had a great Halloween party!! (Mariah's favorite holiday) Fancy dress and fun! They were great hosts throwing a party complete with games--a combination of alcohol and bobbing for apples--so much fun!

Paris October 2005

The wonderful thing about living in the UK was that tickets to the continent were So cheap. They have a far better choice of discount airlines. Paris was simply a cheap flight and an hour and a half away. We went for our first time together at the very end of October 2005. We had amazing weather. We saw the sights in a very leisurely style. We typically just walk everywhere--seriously. We rarely, rarely take public transport when we travel. I think because we're afraid we'll miss something. And in Paris, there would be so much to miss. Still one of our favorite cities in the world. On this trip we went to the Pompidou and saw the 'Da da da' exhibit. We spent a whole evening in an artsy French bar in Montmarte, not speaking to each other at all so people wouldn't know we were American (English speaking). And then we walked and ate...what better way?!:)