The Great Outdoor Playground

If you're out and about (or oot and aboot)
in Scotland you may see the Anderson family wandering around.

It's what we do in our free time: explore the great outdoor playground!

This is the Buckie Harbour wall.

Foodie: UK Style Part 1

Lest you be confused:

I am NOT a foodie.

To me a foodie lives for exotic and gourmet foods, loves sushi, and can pronounce foie gras correctly.

For obvious reasons I don't appear becoming a foodie anytime soon as I:

- Can't stand the taste of kale 

- Still eat mac and cheese from a box. Living those blue box blues, for reals.

- Shudder at quinoa with the eensy "worms" that are suddenly produced by cooking it

(by the way I feel ridiculous with the "KEEN-wah" pronunciation. 

I'm a rebel and call it like I see it (read: the hillbilly way) "quinn-no-uh")

I live in the UK. 

I eat food in the UK.

I sometimes take pictures of food in the UK.

I've had the rare, the outlandish, the delicious, and the classics.

Would you like to see some?

These are a candy.

They taste just like those orange Circus Peanuts candy you get in the USA.

I liked these until I read the back of the package...

BEEF GELATIN

Comparison: what I'd do in my free time, if I had any

I have four children. 

I don't have free time.

But I sneakily take time from important tasks to pretend like I've got free time.

This is including but not limited to:

- laundry

- washing dishes

- grading papers

- mending (I know it's 2015 and this is like so 50 years ago and SO Cinderella, but it's true)

- the tapestries

- and the draperies

and oh yes, one more thing:

- bathing

I'm not proud of it, but I can place the last item well down on the list if the need to procrastinate arises.

So I thought I'd pretend like I had free time and imagine what I do with it:

I'd compare pictures of my children all at the same age.

So I did it tonight.

(Laundry, get thee behind me.)

April 2015 

Caedmon is 8

and he's eating candy money.

I'm sure there's a good analogy or hidden meaning here.

Calf-roping, Aisle 4

Well our lives have been a teensy bit crazy lately.

So I wanted to just do a short little "here's what we've been doing" in a few photos.

As per usual, I blog when there are other pressing things to do. Today's avoidance is called: grocery shopping. 

I used to love to grocery shop, because shopping is shopping, yo. 

But since plastic bags have become currency here (they charge 5p per bag at ALL stores) that adds significant time onto my weekly trip, and I have to remember to bring bags along with me.

So yes, in procrastinating I'm hoping in the next 20 minutes it takes me to write this that 

- the government will reverse it's law to charge for cheap-y plastic bags, 

- there will be grocery-packing-leprechauns at the end of every lane

- Lidl's (grocery store like Aldi) will stop checking out your entire purchase in 5 milliseconds making you fumble for your wallet and hurriedly repacking your [unsacked] groceries whilst the rest of the lane stares at you.

This is like some kind of hideous and twisted calf-roping event to me: 

The great check out challenge, where I attempt to reload my cart and pay in record time.

I feel like I should be applauded when I shove my wallet back in to my purse, 

snatch the receipt, and pitch the last of the groceries in the cart.

"Ladies and gentleman, we have a NeeeeeeW record! 

We were unsure at the beginning as she had the minor fumble re-stacking the 3 dozen eggs purchased,

but she recovered by flinging the non-bruising onions into the cart."

"Yes Donny, Mrs. Anderson may have a new record 

but if we look at the stats we'll see this is one of her lower scores;

she's gotten one loaf of bread squished, every single dang tortilla chip smashed, 

and all the frozen items scattered throughout the cart. 

She's going to get docked major points on those."

Ok, so it's obvious I have issues with grocery shopping.

And yes, I do have these conversations in my head.

One and Ten Years

Eleven years ago today THIS EVENT HAPPENED.

So naturally I got to reminiscing 

    (yeah, I totally had to use spell check for that word)

And usually when I reminisce 

    (didn't use spell check on that one--BOOM)

I go straight to my iPhoto albums.

Enjoy the previous 11 years:

2003, an engagement photo shoot in Cheyenne, WY.

This has actually never happened in all our married lives, 

so I'm not sure why I hogtied him for the picture.

Anderson Family Update

Dear Friends,

We wanted to bring you up to date with some events affecting our family. In 2012 we were invited to minister with the Buckie Church of Christ in Scotland. From the very beginning our aim, as felt by the Lord's leading, was teaching and implementing discipleship within the church.

In the past 6 weeks Mark has met with the leadership of Buckie Church of Christ. The church has decided their vision and direction is no longer in line with our own vision and calling. We, feeling the Lord's calling and focus for our ministry has not changed, and in agreement with the leadership of the church, have deemed it necessary to part ways with BCC.

Because of our visa requirements our family will be returning to the USA in mid-to-late July. During this interim time Mark will continue to preach on Sunday mornings and I will continue to lead the children's ministries. We will continue our work in high school youth group in our home, weekly men's discipleship group, as well as our Sunday evening service. This summer's Holiday Bible Club will take place as well as the second annual Holiday Bible Camp for high schoolers.

We ask that you please continue to keep our family in prayer during this time as we seek the Lord's direction.

As always and foremost:
For the sake of the gospel,

Mark & Jordan
Caedmon, Caithness, Aberdeen, & Airdrie

Twilight Series--the good kind, though

It's that time of year again, the time where I go nuts about the sunsets here.

Here's two reasons I do this:

- they are AMAZING!

- they occur after the Anderson children are to bed

Monday night I noticed the colours of the sky so off I went with big camera and tripod in hand...

Just after 8 pm, this is looking NORTHwest.

My Very First Little Brother

It's another happy birthday time!

Mark's youngest brother, Joshua, had a birthday today.

If you know your historical turn of phrase you'll know how old he is:

Two score and eight years.

Joshua is the youngest of 7 children.

So when I married Mark I got 3 older brothers, one brother my age, a little sister, and one baby brother.

SO exciting! 

I never had a little brother growing up.

Joshua is the best of little brothers to have.

We ALL can universally agree Joshua is highly recognisable with his smile: 

His eyes disappear.

Easter-ing We Will Go

So recently we celebrated Easter here.

I mean, I know all y'all did.

But I don't know about how you celebrated it, so this will be a post about our celebration.

Thank you for your understanding.

First off, let me just acknowledge that our 18 month old singlehandedly did this in our school room.

She takes great delight in grabbing what she can and flinging it over her shoulder.

The crayon bucket is her special place that makes her happy.

This does not evoke such feelings in me.