Our "Skeleton Baby"

As you may have seen via my husband's blog, we're pregnant!!! The fact that we are even pregnant is a huge miracle and is by the grace of God. If you haven't read the full story and would like to, check out http://scottburns.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/i-cant-believe-it-were-pregnant/

Tuesday, we had our first scheduled ultrasound scan as part of our "antenatal" appointment. We were 13 weeks, 2 days at that point and Baby Burns measured 11.7cm/4.6 inches! Bet you can see why we refer to this picture as our "skeleton baby" pic. ;) So happy all the bones appear to be forming as they should! I definitely shed a few tears during the ultrasound as Scott and I saw the work God is doing inside of me in the form of a tiny human being. Incredible! We are officially due on August 12th!

Baby Bump Burns! 13.2 Weeks

While I think I'm past the joys of morning sickness (which for me lasted all day), I do find if I don't eat a snack about every 2 hours I start to feel a wee bit "sicky." Such fun for a non-snacker like me! I already feel a bit like a mom carrying around snacks for her children...except the snacks are of course only for me!

I've been hearing all sorts of interesting ways to guess/determine the sex of the baby over the past few weeks. The most humorous conjecture so far came from my sister Emily. A few days after I had told her we were pregnant, we were skyping and I was describing how hungry being pregnant was making me. She proceeded to declare "If you're that hungry, you're definitely going to have a boy." There was a pause and she added, "Or a very big girl!" I just had to laugh. :) Don't worry, we'll let you know whether it's going to be a boy or a girl in about 6 weeks at our 20 week scan, provided baby cooperates! I am just so overwhelmed by how amazing and creative my God is! More to come!

Driving in Scotland!

As the holidays were approaching, Scott and I decided that it made sense to rent a car. With Scott undergoing chemo, we decided it would be best if we avoided virus carriers (a.k.a. public transportation) and had the flexibility to come and go to functions, as well as let Scott sleep in the car if needed. The side benefit was that I would finally get to drive in the U.K.! I'm not sure that Scott actually felt any more rested with the number of questions I asked him about road signs and due to my tragic inability to follow the directions of a GPS, but toward the end of our time with the rental car, he was able to doze off a little more. :)

I had read up on all the paperwork that was necessary to rent a car, so I took a number of documents with us to pick up the car. When we arrived at the car rental company, the British couple in front of us were unable to pick up their reserved car because they didn't have their passports and/or paper counterparts to their license as well as documents proving their address (in addition to their U.K. licenses). I began to get nervous, but when it was our turn all they wanted from me were my U.S. license and passport. They told Scott that since he didn't have his paper counterpart to his license (something they do in the U.K.), he would be unable to drive the car. I was getting worried since I had planned to have Scott drive the car off the lot and take me for a bit of practice. However, Scott (brilliant husband that he is) asked if he could use his U.S. license instead. The woman asked if it was current (which it is), so she said that would work fine alongside his passport! It felt kind of silly that Scott had to use his U.S. license, but we were just happy that he had it!

Thankfully, we had rented a small car called a Nissan Micra (pronounced niss-ann in the U.K.), so it was pretty easy to navigate around the skinny and crowded roads of Glasgow. I meant to take a picture of me driving for the first time, but forgot to take a picture of the car we rented all, though it looks just like the one below.

Having never driven in the U.K. before and managing a manual transmission decently well with my left hand, sitting on the right hand side of the vehicle, while driving on the left hand side of the road, I feel an overall sense of accomplishment. I even managed to parallel park in some tighter spaces! We'll just forget that I ran a red light (pedestrian crossing), had to go around one roundabout twice because I missed my exit and went around a small roundabout in a car park (parking lot) on the wrong side! No one got hurt and no scratches or dents were added to our rental car or anyone else's car, so I'm happy. Now, if I can just master those blasted roundabouts in the future, driving in the U.K. will be even more enjoyable!

Wall of Frames

At least a year ago now, Scott found a DIY project that he really liked on a blog, so he shared it with me and we decided that at some point in the future we'd undergo the task. The idea was an entire wall of differently shaped and textured, white picture frames with various pictures and memorabilia in them. Several months ago, we stumbled across an advertisement on Gumtree (like Craig's List) of 50 odd picture frames going for £10. Then about a month ago, I picked up white paint, sandpaper, and paint brushes so we'd be ready when we actually had some down time!

With all his chemo treatments lately, Scott's immune system has been down, so he's had to stay in the house and away from crowds. He became extremely restless last week and was wishing aloud that he had something to do, so I suggested he start on the Wall of Frames project we had talked about doing. He jumped at the chance to have something to do and began the task with a vengeance!

Our kitchen was soon overrun with the project (which was not my favourite), but I had a happy, busy husband which was worth the bother of a crazy kitchen! Scott sanded and painted the majority of the frames and I helped with a bit of painting and touching up and also washed and dried the glass for the frames. One night Scott couldn't sleep due to his prescriptions, so at 4am he painted more frames! It was about a 3 day process since most of the frames had to be painted with 2-3 coats and all the frames had to be hung.

In order to organise where we thought each frame should go and minimise the number of holes in the wall (I'm sure our landlord will be grateful for this), we measured and cut out cheap wrapping paper and blue tacked it to the wall. I have to say, it is wonderful to have a husband who likes to do things well!

Once the frames were all painted, we matched their sizes to the wrapping paper cutouts and began to hang frames in place on the wall. Several frames were the same size, but had different designs which were seen through the paint, so we spent quite a lot of time organising where everything looked best!

We had decided the wall would be one of memories and places we love rather than pictures of us or of other people, so once the frames were on the wall, we were on the hunt for things to fill them with! The first several frames were easy to fill, but as we got toward the last few, it was more difficult to decide what should go in them. Some of the things included on our wall are ticket stubs and program from our first official date at the London Theatre, scenic pictures of Trillium Lake and Hume Lake, ballroom dancing, our favourite movie: August Rush, as well as a few fun random things we liked the look of!

While all the frames are up with pictures in them, the wall is still definitely a work in progress. You may have noticed one last piece of wrapping paper on the wall awaiting it's frame and picture. Scott fell in love with a black and white sketch of Glasgow University that our friend Nichol Wheatley http://www.perfectcircleart.com had done, so it will soon be living on our wall. The larger blue picture will soon be replaced as well. Other than that, all we need to do is get white picture mount for a number of the frames and we're set! We LOVE our new wall decor!

So, what would you do if you had cancer and were undergoing chemo? :)

My Long Lost Olives!

I was at Tesco yesterday (kind of like super-Walmart, but a little nicer) doing my grocery shopping when I stumbled across a tin (can) of olives that appeared to be "brine-free!" Now, if you know me, you have heard me complain a few times that too many things in Scotland are preserved in brine. This isn't such a bad thing when it's something like tinned tuna, but it is NOT nice in my opinion when black olives are soaked in brine. It changes their flavour completely!

Ever since moving here over a year ago, I have been on the hunt for olives that taste like the "normal" ones I love and eat often at home. I've searched at specialty shops and all sorts and until yesterday had not managed to find anything remotely similar! Though it cost a whopping £1.50 ($2.50) for a single tin, I decided to take the financial risk...and boy was I rewarded! They taste very similar to what I'm used to back home! Thank you Spain for your olives that taste like the ones from California!

So, if you're from a country that has tinned olives in normal salt water and you've struggled to find somethings similar in the U.K., try Fragata brand Black Olives at your local Tesco! I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Pink Wins! Oh Yeah!

After a long and arduous competition and after being behind for the last while, pink (I) snuck ahead and won the 50 Person Challenge! www.scottandmonica.com 

When we moved to Scotland our support was at a scary low of 35% of our monthly budget. In normal circumstances we would have waited longer until our support was up to about 90%, but we didn't have that luxury as Scott's Visa to remain in the States had run out. So it was either go together with very little money or have him move ahead of me for who knew how long...we believed that God was sovereign over our circumstances and we were and are certain that He called us to Scotand, so we went together trusting that He would provide for our needs.

Soon after we moved to Glasgow, Scott thought up a brilliant support raising campaign that could bring us to about 85% our monthly budget if we each came up with 50 new people to support us at $20/month. It was Scott (guys/blue) against Monica (girls/pink). God immediately began to work and though things have remained tight a lot of the time, He drew new people to be part of our support team! After tallying up some of the folks that I "recruited" over the summer, the pink girls' team pulled ahead and won 50 people to 40 people! Woohoo! Time to celebrate, especially since in this competition we really both win! :) Thank you to all who played a part in helping me or Scott recruit new supporters!

English Test Results

Results are in...As it turns out, I CAN in fact speak and function in English! That fact is now officially recognised world-wide! It's a good thing, because I don't have any other language to fall back on! :) I did however learn that I probably shouldn't become a writer because writing is apparently my weakest area in English (apologies to those who read this blog!). Maybe I should try writing in Japanese instead! Anyway, just wanted to ensure that you're all aware that I AM proficient in English. :)

Can I Speak English?

For those of you who don't know, for the past few months I have been gathering and filling out paperwork to be registered in the UK as a dental hygienist. My hope is to continue with dental hygiene on a part-time basis because it is something I both miss and enjoy.

Registering to work in healthcare in a country not your own is quite the rigorous process! Now, I expected to have to give proof of the university I attended with transcripts as well as proof of licensure from the Oregon Board of Dentistry. No problem, no big deal. However, in addition to that I have to produce all the syllabi from all the dental hygiene classes as well as prerequisite classes I took. Whew! While this has been a headache, it is coming together and I can understand why the UK Dental Council would require these documents, though I feel it's all a bit much.

As it turns out, in addition to all of these more understandable and expected requirements, until I take a test, they won't believe that I can speak English! Anyone from outside the UK and British colonies must take the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) to prove that they can read, write, understand and speak proficiently in English...to the tune of £115 ($180)! I've checked around and though it is obvious to everyone that English is my first language, there is no other lesser expensive test I can take to prove it. This is just one more hoop I have to jump through so I can be registered in the UK as a dental hygienist. After all, dental personnel are known for asking questions and not letting their patients answer without a million things in their mouth, so it makes sense that the dentist or hygienist would need to carry the conversation. ;)

All that to say, I have scheduled to take the IELTS on Oct 22 and will let you know as soon as I get the results whether or not I am actually competent in the English language!