The Richards in Scotland: June 2011

Texas Our Texas...My family is soon to be Texas bound for the summer. We have made it through one school year overseas as we have been living here for 8 months! We arrived in Aberdeen, Scotland in early October, visited Texas over the Christmas holidays, and it has been about 5 months since I have been back. That is the longest time I've been so far away from "Home". How far away you might ask? 4,625 MILES away - a 10-11 hour flight from deep in the Southern part of the United States to across the ocean and into the Northern part of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. My home will always be Texas, where everything IS bigger and better, and oh how I miss living in that great state!

Things we are looking forward to:
* visiting so many family and friends
* witnessing my sister Katy's wedding which my boys will be attending as Ring Bearers (and wearing their little tux)
* watching my boys play with their Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and friends they have been missing
* having a few drinks with other Mommy friends back home
* eating some great Mexican food (Salsa and Queso please!) and drinking a Margarita on the patio
* listening to country and American radio
* having my groceries sacked for me in the store
* bigger parking spaces and not having to pay at each parking lot
* enjoying some hot Texas weather
* plenty of drive through coffee or dining (Starbucks, Chick Fila, Whataburger, Sonic drinks with Sonic ice, oh and I hear there is a Taco Cabana now in Sugar Land! The boys are wanting some Chick Fila and Ranch Dip as well as Chucke Cheese and some Donuts from the Donut Shop)
* swimming in an outdoor swimming pool (maybe I'll get a tan and wear a bikini!)
* driving on wider roads with a bigger car
* shopping at Target and the Galleria
* talking to people with the same language accent (where I can understand you and you can understand me)
* getting more for my money (everything costs more here with the exchange rate)
* cheaper gas and pay at the pump (yes, we pay approx. $9 per gallon here and I have to always hold the lever the whole time and walk in to pay)
* watching more American TV shows
* going to the farm, bay house and the beach and going fishing with my boys.

Although we've had our bumps in the road, we've been enjoying our time here in Scotland and we have visited so many wonderful places and have been making great memories. We are trying to take in all of the new experiences here and I am starting to really enjoy flying (did I really just say that!) For those of you who know me well it is something I really did not like and throw an overseas 10-11 hour flight on top of that...enough said. Landon and Trent are fascinated with airplanes and we often are at the airport watching them. They love KLM airlines! We have been to Edinburgh (the Capital), Glasgow (shopping), Aviemore (skiing), Inverness (Loch Ness), Stirling (William Wallace Monument), which are all in Scotland and we have visited many Castles here as well including Crathes Castle, Castle Fraser, Dunnottar Castle and the Balmoral Castle. This Spring we visited Paris, France where we stayed at Disneyland Paris and visited the Eiffel Tower. We also went to London, England and saw so many things including the Westminster Abbey where the Royal Wedding took place just 2 weeks prior and Buckingham Palace where we watched the changing of the guard. My baby is graduating from the ISA PreSchool this year and will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall (tear!) Trent is so ready for Kindergarten though, we are so proud of him. He can't wait and has been visiting the classrooms this week and even ate lunch in the school cafeteria. Landon is going to be the Big Pre-schooler next year. He is excited as well and is already writing his letters. This week he started writing his name. This summer we are going to Barcelona, Spain and then going on a Disney Cruise to Italy and France, so we are looking forward to that after Texas.

Moving overseas has been both one of the most exciting and yet one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was not easy to leave so much family and so many friends behind and go to a new place where I knew NO ONE except for my husband and two children! I was fortunate to have met a girl through a blog I found who had moved here years before us from Houston who had two small boys. What a blessing, Christi Hollis has been an amazing friend to me and my family. Her family has helped us in so many ways while learning things here.

It has been a whole new way of life here and we have had our ups and downs. Jon has been busy with his new position which he really enjoys and has been doing some traveling to Norway, Croatia, Egypt, London, and other places. I have stayed busy with the household domestic duties and keeping up with my boys after their school gets out at 2 pm. As an expatriate, during the first couple of months here I experienced excitement and interest as this was going to be a great adventure. The Castles, the Men in Kilts, and Snow, Snow and more Snow. So follow that with a state of Culture Shock, I had the feeling of not being independent anymore, as if freedom was suddenly taken away from me. Everything here changed, different foods, different people, different ways of doing things, different terminologies, and I had to find a new balance as I went from a very fast pace lifestyle in Houston to a slower pace. I was very homesick after my parents left from their visit and even physically didn't feel right. I prayed for strength and was thankful for my husband, family and friends to help me get through this. My boys were resilient after this move, so seeing them smiling, having fun and happy everyday made me happy! My boys have a way with giving us kisses and hugs, so much energy and enthusiasm, they brighten up my day any day, what a blessing God has given to both Jon and I.

This time period was also a stressful time as we were finding out how to get medical treatment (which is very different here) for our children as well. Anxiety took over at some point, it was a lot to handle at once. Trent developed a horrible rash all over his body which he was first diagnosed with as chicken pox and then after 4 weeks the Dr's could not identify what he had. He had no fever the whole time. He kept getting more and more spots all over him which looked like Measles, eventually covering his face. The nurse said she has never seen anything like it. It was questionable whether I could even take him to school and sometimes I kept him at home. This lasted for about two months and Jon and I just prayed everyday that it went away. We still do not know what this was. We have some of the best medical care in Houston, and I will always appreciate that.

Those harder months have passed, and I started to adjust to living here. I started working out again, getting more involved with the American Women's Group here, volunteering more at my children's school, and decided to be on the PTO board at the International School of Aberdeen. I have met so many wonderful woman from across the world who I have been enjoying working with during these past couple of weeks for the next school year. I'm excited about taking on this role for the next two years. But for now, I'm going to enjoy my summer in Texas!