Day Two in Scotland

Day Two in Scotland

Ok so we all woke up at 10:30 today UK time!!!  Now that is soo super late for Mr DENMAN.  I feel a little better as far as exhaustion goes, but my heart still hurts to the point that I am sick to my stomach.  Rusty scheduled driving lessons for me today.  "OH goody!"  In case you don't know, the cars are just a tad different over here.  TO SAY THE LEAST!  The car's steering wheel is on the other side of the car, they drive on the OTHER side of the road, and they have totally different signs than the US.  They have lights for BOTH pedestrians and vehicles, and they have these awful things called "ROUND ABOUTS" at every corner.  They say my US drivers license will work here for a year but then I will have to have a UK license.  Now judging from my test taking skills from the past....pretty sure I need to start that driving test tomorrow.  So lessons here we come!

Oh poor Mr. Jim.... that would be my driving instructor's name.  He made me pull over three times just to "chat" about what to do "next" time we get to a blinking light.  So another rule here, the lights go from red to yellow to green.  They want you to start to go on yellow, NOT slam on the brakes.  LOL!  Now that totally made me laugh!  I wanted to tell him... "I totally paused"...but I didn't.  We did in fact make it through the lesson without hitting another car or bicycle which was super good for me.  He asked if I had any wrecks on my records, and I told him three wrecks but none were my fault.  He just rolled his eyes and grinned.  Now THAT IS THE TRUTH!  We scheduled our next one for the end of the week so we shall see how round two will go.

When I got back, the kids were bouncing off the walls and Rusty's eyes were bigger than his head.  Guess this meant we were headed somewhere now.  See we only have one car right now and it is a "rental" car.  Can you really think about what that would be like for just a second.  Picture this..... two hours in a small hotel room, with limited tv shows to watch for kids or adults, a phone that is jacked up and can't use in the UK, limited food supply, NO CAR, constant rain, cold wind, limited clothes because all of our warm clothes are in our "CARDBOARD BOX" at the house, and all of the electronics are now dead because we need an adaptor to plug them in.  GOOD TIMES FOR RUSTY!

Now that is what I thought until we all got loaded up in the car and then I realized THAT IS GOING TO BE ME FOR A WEEK!!!!!  Now granted, I do have a little more patience than my precious husband, but the frustration of what in the world will we do with our day started to kick in now.  I began to take deep breaths and started to pray and tried my VERY best not to cry while I prayed. 

I kept hearing in my head Build, Bless, and Benefit.  Now during our bible study this last semester that is something that Robyn told us to think about when bad thoughts begin to enter our minds.  Will it build the person up if you say it? Will you or the other person be blessed if you mention it? Who will that comment Benefit?  I am positive those three words have saved me WAY more times that I wish to admit.  Everything that I was thinking and feeling would NOT do any of those things so I just continued to keep my mouth shut and my emotions under control as I asked....  "Where are we going?"

Can I tell you it is a MUST to look UP to our great God before you open your mouth.  Because, Rusty then said that they planned out the day for us.  We were headed to see our first castle, then our house, then to see their school, and also to find you a phone that will work here in the UK.   Now that sounded like a great day.  We were trying to keep them both up and running so maybe we could get them both on the same sleeping schedule and closer to the time change here in the UK. 

First we head to the mall to get a jacket for me and Denman.  We both had our summer jackets but neither were water proof.  Did I mention that it rains DAILY here???  The jackets that we needed were, of course,  in the ever so famous  "CARDBOARD BOX" locked up in the house.  They say you really need to have one jacket at home and one at school so we were headed to do that first.  I LOVE the jackets we found.  The weather motto here is.."There is no such thing as bad weather, but only bad clothing."  Not sure I agree with that one but I'm for sure going to start working on a NEW WARDROBE! 

Next we go to the castle because we think it may close early and it was already almost 4.  We get there at 4:05 and guess what......they close at 4.  The kids had no idea that you could even go in it so we just kept that one a secret.  We just walked around the beautiful green grass and took pictures of this amazing castle.  I can't wait to make a book of all of the castles.  Denman just kept hollering WHOA!!  That is huge!  I think this is actually one of the smallest castles here.  We shall see.

This is us at Crathes Castle.

I love that Denman has to touch everything before he will turn around and smile.

Oh, and that is a HUGE tree!

Denman had to touch the castle too. :)

After the castle, we went to drive by our house so the kiddos could see the neighborhood and get an idea of what it looked like.  They were so cute.  Natalie said, "Check out that front yard, we can for sure play in that!"  Then Denman said, "That garage is TINY!"  It was so clean and looked so nice.  It was being remodeled when we found it and that is why it isn't ready for us yet.  They still have a few things to fix, and they are waiting on some of the furniture to come in...you know like the BEDS!

I must say I do think God might have the right idea on this one.  He is easing us into this country.  Now that I look at it... Being in a hotel is making me get out and see things that I wouldn't be able to do in our house.  Our hotel is in the middle of the city so we are right by just about EVERYTHING.  Well, when I say right by, within five to ten miles of a ton eating places (don't know what any of them are or what they serve), the mall, the library, and that is just what we passed today that I plan to explore this week.  God won't give us more than we can handle and He will always help us handle what we are given.  I am SO grateful for that.  He knows I am a major control and CLEAN freak and that I can't handle taking on the house right now so HE is showing me the city first. 

We also got a chance to drive by the kids school today.  It is super huge and both kids were so excited about the playground.  I love that kids are so simple.  It truly is the little things in life that means the most.  I decided for the first week in Scotland, we are trying a new dessert place every day.  Today we found ASDA which is not really a dessert place, but a walmart like store.  We got plenty of desserts for us there.  They had an escalator for buggies that Denman thought they put in the store just for him.  You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.  :) Really wish I had a picture of that one. :)

After ASDA, both kiddos were DONE!!  We drove back to the hotel hoping we could get them in the bath before they both fell out!  I even had to take them to the car while Rusty finished up the shopping.  It was WAY too stressful for me to try and figure out what everything was, if we would like it, and when it expired because the fridge here is TINY so they don't hold much at all.  After a few aisles in ASDA, we decided to tag team the kiddos.  I took them to the car to act silly and Rusty managed to get at least two days worth of stuff for us. 

 I know when you say your vows you say that the two of you will become one.  We are for sure ONE!  I love that he can look at me and know that I can't handle anymore.  In every step of this move it has been a joint decision. Not once have I felt like it was a one sided move.  We have learned each others limits and respected each others choices as we take on this journey.  I don't think I have ever felt so loved or wanted by another person.  You hear that love can fade after 10 years of marriage, but I am here to tell you it can also grow into a bond of strength that can never be broken.  You MUST have God first then your husband.  See a man or woman could never live up to the standards that we set for each other.  We can't expect them to be perfect, but God will help you guide each other in knowing what are your expectations and what are your true needs.  After living in Scotland just for a few days, I have learned so much about our wants and needs.   We have MANY MANY things in life that are soooo not NEEDS!  They are wants and can be tossed aside for something soo much better.

 

So I found this one for today...  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge HIM, and HE shall direct your path.  Proverbs 3:5-6

People can't believe in Jesus,

If the gospel they don't hear,

So we must proclaim its message,

To the world both far and near.

Although my heart is still broken and in Texas, I am slowly feeling like I am being built back up.  I think sometimes we must be broken down so that we can be molded back into a person that will be stronger than the one that broke.  And let me tell you that is impossible unless you have God standing right beside you!