2009 at a glance

I figure that since I was so useless at writing last year that I would give a wee overview in photos of the best parts of 2009, kind of giving me a clean slate before being more up to date with the blogging this year. I guess it is a New Year's resolution of mine. Heehee! I never realised that so many of my night's out involved dressing up!!





Hanging out with mum and dad on Stonehaven beach for the first time in a long time.







Seeing mum and dad so happy - this photo made my day!








Being crazy with the family. All nuts, one of the reasons I love them all so much!







Meeting my nephew for the first time was definitely the best part of last year for me. Wee Leon Knight, here at 4 months.









Wee man, all teddy-fied!










I couldnt believe how big my nieces had gotten in the time that I was away. The not so wee Freya.






Brenna and Rianna close to their 2nd birthdays.









I was so grateful to be able to hang out with old school friends, who I am lucky to still be in touch with, Charlotte, Sarah and Arlene.






Orkney is just so beautiful in the snow!






Pete's 21st birthday party - zombie style... Debs and Al getting into the spirit of things! Wee Leon along for the ride.










Me and Pete looking particularly terrifying. It was such a fun night!










Wow, we are so elegant here! Kimber and me on St. Paddy's day in NaCunna.







Me and my dear friend Susan, my roommate in Guatemala, spending an awesome couple of weeks in NC.








My very first rodeo. Hopefully it wont be the last...







Meeting my newest little niece, Nely's beautiful daughter








Me hanging out with Nely's son... he's so cute!










For my 28th birthday we had a 1920s party which was a LOT of fun! Everyone made a great effort, getting really into it. Happy Days....









Kimber, Shaun, Nic and me. Doing it up, 20s style.








Halloween 09, Amy, me and Nic








Kelley and Kimber looking gorgeous










Amy's 30th - 80s style









Me and K







Kimber, me, Nic and Amy











Brianna, me and Amy
Bri has some of the most exciting stories I have ever heard!









Kelley, me, Kimber and Jeanette - some of the most awesome people ever.



Me and some of the girls - love them!!!

Oh so long...

Yeah, so I am not very good at writing these. Pretty terrible at keeping up to date actually. So much has happened since the last time I wrote. I have come to the decision that I am going home to Scotland. The last 4 months or so have proven very difficult for me as I have been quite ill. I have hideous spinning seizures, where the world around me starts to spin which makes me feel like I am intensely seasick. Not fun at all. I have been for an MRI (which thank God came up clear) and an EEG which showed my seizures. I have had to stop working due to my condition, as the smallest exersion overheats me and I feel like I am on the verge of having another attack. I am going to visit North Carolina for a couple of weeks and then I will head home to Scotland to get myself completely better, before traveling back with my mum, dad and sister to Bolivia for a 7 week vacation. I will then return to Scotland with them until I figure out what the next step in my life involves, whether it be back to Bolivia or elsewhere.

Right now I have so many emotions swirling around in this head of mine that I feel like I am going to explode. There is excitement at the thought of seeing family and dear friends again, of being in Scotland for the first summer in about 4 years, and the hope of feeling better again. Yet at the same time there is the utter sadness at leaving people behind here. People that I have come to call my family, people who have shaped me and helped me grow over the last 4 and a half years. I dont know what I am going to do without them. I am so thankful for the internet, for video calls so I can feel like I am there wth them. This is the hard part of having people you love in so many places. You are always missing someone, no matter where you are. I am going to miss my little church group more than anything. This group has been such a support system for me and I think for the other members too.

I know that my time here in Bolivia has truly changed me. I am not who I was when I came here, I think for the better. I worry as to how things are going to be when I get back to Scotland, thinking about the support system of like-minded people I have here in Bolivia and wondering as to whether I will have the same in Orkney. One thing I do know is that the next two years of my life are going shape me once again, showing me the course that my life is going to take. A thought that is both exciting and overwhelming.

Well, that is my ramble for the moment. I shall try not to leave it so long before my next one.
Hope that you are all well and that this New Year brings all kinds of awesomeness into your lives.

Barbs