I haven't posted in a while, so....

This is going to be a bit of a long post, I'm afraid.

Life just keeps rolling along, and the times when I do have time to sit down and blog, I can think of a thousand other things I could be doing instead and when I don't have time to blog because I should be doing homework, I find myself here, (like right now) writing a blog.
Here's what I've been getting up to recently:

 although these aren't the best pictures of me celebrating my birthday, these are the pictures of some of the birthday-present-care-packages I received! Thanks, again, to my friends who made it a fun and memorable one! On my birthday, itself I spent the day working on a presentation I had to give the next day, but then went out to dinner with one of my flatmates and some new friends from church!

But, if the day-of celebrations weren't that big it's because Becky was coming to visit not long thereafter my birthday and I knew we'd celebrate together, too.

Speaking of Becky's visit, she got here just in time for us to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day (aka: Bonfire Night, 5th of November, etc.)

 here's the crowd down by the beach waiting for the fireworks display! For those of you who don't know, here's a link about Guy Fawkes Day. But all that to say, this picture of the crowd doesn't do it justice. There were people everywhere! It was fun.

Although I'd been warned that the fireworks display wasn't really that great, I thought it was pretty good. The music choices were quite hilarious, but I knew not to expect Disneyland quality. Unfortunately for Becky's visit we both still had homework to get done, so most of the week was spent with us doing homework together like we had in our undergrad, that is, until Friday. On Friday we got up early, caught the bus to the train station and then caught the train to Scotland's Capital, Edinburgh:

Almost immediately upon leaving the train station one's eyes were met with the beauty of this city. From the Walter Scott Monument:

to, well, everything:

 the Castle

parts of the University of Edinburgh

 we even found what appeared to be the Doctor's TARDIS!

 It was quite a fun day, although limited by it being just a day trip, Becky and I spent our time wandering along The Royal Mile (the road between the Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse)

the Castle

the writers museum (featuring Steveson, Scott, and Burns)

Scottish Parliament!

the Palace of Holyroodhouse

Then, on Saturday, after returning from Edinburgh the night before, Becky and I had a photo-day through Aberdeen (the school and the city)

That evening we did end up celebrating my birthday together with a dinner out and then a trip to the opera. So, although you aren't entirely caught-up with the most recent events of this journey of mine, you're now a bit closer. :-) I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I'll post again soon about the rest of November.