Day 364: Another Journey Home

Iain, Tanya and myself had our last roadtrip from the Shneck for the year, and it was a pretty good one. I got to listen to Iain and Tanya singing along to some Runrig, we stopped for bacon rolls (eventually!), got stuck behind many slow moving vehicles, and had lots of fun with Iain's iPad! Well, Tanya and I did. Iain was focusing on the road ahead, obviously.

I can't quite believe I have just one more day, one more photo, one more blog post and then the year is over...it's pretty CreyC. But, we'll save the sentimental soppy stuff for tomorrow.

I hope you all have a fabulous Hogmany tomorrow, I'll probably be getting the blog post up around 1 or 2am on Sunday morning.

Day 363: Banter At Sean's

I forced everyone to come and get their photo taken after watching Mission Impossible tonight, when they were all half asleep, and it was looking ok until I saw Iain looked like an Actual criminal. So, to save the photo we turned him in to a pretty stained glass person.

Day 362: Worthington Franz Family Sneak Peak

This morning I had the pleasure of photographing the Worthington family along with Mamaw and Papaw Franz. The shoot was originally meant to take place yesterday morning, but wee Anya wasn't welll .Thankfully she was feeling a bit better today so we were able to get the shoot done before I headed up the road to Inverness. Mamaw and Papaw are heading back over to the states on Friday, so I'm really pleased I was able to get some photos of this wonderful family together during their visit! It was a super fun start to my day :) Apologies if my spelling of Mamaw and Papaw is completely incorrect. Haha.

Safe travels back home, and hopefully see you guys again soon :)

Day 361: Oh How He's Grown

Last Christmas I took photos of Fin beside the Christmas tree, and today we got some up to date photos :) It's crazy seeing how much he's grown! Here's last year's photo (obvs...)

What a bald podger he was :) And here's a couple photos from today...

My wee boy's growing up!

Day 360: Hardly Time Bench Monday

Woaw. I.Am.Tired! This morning as Sarah and I headed in to town I couldn't believe Christmas Day was over so quickly...now, it feels like Christmas Day was a week ago!! Sarah and I were woken by Finlay at 6 this morning, and when it was evident that he wasn't planning on going back to sleep, we decided just to get up and head for the Next sale. I've never experienced this mental event before, when the shop opens at 6am...and as we discovered this morning, PEOPLE ACTUALLY QUEUE OUTSIDE BEFORE IT OPENS!! We thought we'd go to the Berryden Next first, but quickly made a U-turn when we saw the queue, and I was in total awe of the bulging bags in the hands of people leaving the shop, allowing fresh meat to have their turn. And when we got to Union Square, the Next there was practically empty, no queue in sight. It was certainly bizarre shopping before sunrise. And when we eventually finished in town and headed home at half 11, the backseat of the car was filled with bulging bags of our own. Ha.

Anyway, enough chat about shops! After freshening up at home, and enjoying a bacon and egg roll, Sarah and Dave headed to the cinema, while Mum, Ali, Richard and myself took Fin down to the beach for a stroll. I had hoped to get all of our shopping bags in to my Bench Monday photo, but that plan simply didn't work out due to the last minute cinema adventure.

This was the one and only bench photo I got today, as poor Finny wasn't keen on playing along, he wanted to run free. The photo's actually quite cute, as his two uncles were very concerned about his unhappiness and wanted to comfort him.

So that's it...the final Bench Monday for 2011...not the spectacular, hilarious photo I'd hoped for...but completely perfect for displaying part of today's events; Fin being the central focus.

Now...I'm off to bed! Haha. Oh, but if you want some giggles, here's a video of Fin after dinner yesterday :)

Day 359: Christmas Day!

The Stewart and Morrison Family enjoying some pudding after a delicious Christmas dinner :) Couldn't get Finlay to look at the camera, his eyes just kept following me running from the camera back to my seat! Ha. Thank you to Donald and Anne Smith for providing us with the bananas for our banoffee pie, Richard managed to eat the whole bunch that Mum got in her big shop the other day since getting home late Friday night.

Mum bought crackers that came with the game "Who Am I?", instead of simply sticking a label to your head with a famous person written on it, we had reindeer antlers to wrap around our heads! We played while we ate pudding, but first I caught everyone unawares for a comedy photo...

...can you see my mug?? I like it...ho ho ho. The exciting thing about those antlers is you can wipe off the name, and write another one, so it could be never ending fun!

I hope you've all had a fantastic day, creating happy memories, from hilarious moments with family and friends :) Merry Christmas!

^"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1 vs 14.

"But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2 vs 10-12

Day 358: Christmas Dinner Prep.

How amazing is my gingerbread man!? Haha. Sarah made napkins for us to use at Christmas dinner, and we've been sewing on little Christmassy things on a corner of each one. I was in my pyjamas until half past 4 because I was so busy sewing, and watching movies on the telly. Ha.

On a different topic, we were watching Total Wipeout before going out to the Carol Service at Church tonight, and Finlay found it absolutely HILARIOUS. It was great! He kept chuckling hysterically. Now I have someone to watch it with, who appreciates it like I do. Haha.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone :) I hope you have a wonderful day with friends and family, eating lots of delicious food, and remembering the true meaning of Christmas! Check back tomorrow night if you'd like to see a snapshot of my Christmas Day :) Only 7 more days left of my 365 project!

Day 357: Cold Tea by the Tree

You know he's not featured on the blog for 17 days...is that a record?? Haha. Here he is having a wee sip of Mother Morrison's cold tea. I promise I haven't influenced him in the slightest! He simply knows what's best :)

Richard's coming home from Bristol tonight :) His train's been delayed, so he's not getting in till quarter to midnight, woop! Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Day 356: Miss Stewart

Sarah and I went out to Mum's school this morning to do some baking with her class of Primary 4's, they were loving having Finlay pottering around as they cut out biscuits and decorated muffins. Sarah and Fin headed off before morning break so Fin to get some sleep, but I ended up staying till 3 o'clock! It was quite fun being a teacher for the day...well, sort of a teacher. Ha.

We were doing the baking in the Library...as you do, and there were some dinosaurs kickin' about, as they do, so I snapped a photo of one of them as he chilled out on the sofa, with all the kids baking plates in the background. The second photo shows the fantastic oven we were using for the biscuits...but the biscuits in the photo are actually the ones made by the other primary 4 class...they went crazy with biscuits and it took most of the day to get them all cooked!

I wrapped all my Christmas pressies when I got home, so now the bottom of the tree is getting pretty crowded. I'm excited for everyone to open them! I might go buy Finlay one more thing tomorrow...ha.

Merry Christmas!!

Day 355: 3 sleeps, 3 days, 1 hour, 40 minutes!

There are presents under the Christmas Tree!!! I love how pretty all the lights and colours are :) Now all we need is snow...

Day 354: Two'sday Tuesday!

I enjoyed a lovely evening of pizza and movies tonight with Rebecca and Rachael. They introduced 'Tangled' and 'Car's in to my life, all in one night, it was pretty CreyC. I almost cried during Tangled, and now I want to release lanterns in to the sky even more so than I have before! It was great. And as for Cars, I did enjoy it...but I was fighting sleep for the majority of it...dunno what it is about Lightning McQueen and his ability to put me to sleep.

Check out Marrrrioooo in the background, that's Rachael's advent calendar. I am so jealous! I don't have one...what an upsetting life I lead!

Right...who thinks I can be asleep by midnight...10 minutes...I think I can do it!

Day 353: Christmas Bench Monday!

I nipped home for lunch today and got this festive bench Monday shot with the remains of the snow :) Which has now been washed away by the rain! Gutted. Now that I've had my week in Lewis I'm happy for the snow to fall as much as it likes! 

Mum's watching The Santa Clause Movie :) And I will soon be heading out to decorate cookies with the lovely Cassia Martin! If I can tear myself away from the movie. Merrrrrry Christmas!

Day 352: Gilcomston Carol Service

We went to the carol service at Gilc tonight, and it was so beautiful seeing the church lit up with Christmas lights, and filled with people, no doubt from a few different churches! I snapped a photo at the end, while everyone was rushing to get their mince pies and tea. Or coffee, I guess. The place was just so cosy and inviting! It felt very Christmassy :) And the singing was wonderful. And now I've got the Bon Accord Christmas Eve gathering on Saturday night to look forward to!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend :)

Day 351: Stewart Christmas Meal

I love spending the day with these people! We had a lovely lunch at the Maryculter House Hotel, had some fun with noisy balloons that fly across the room, and Sarah and Dave reenacted one of their wedding photos with the addition of Finlay :) Then we headed back to Ken and Rachel's, watched Cars 2 with the new beast of a projector (well, I actually ended up conking out for the majority of the film, didn't realise I was so tired!), and after the movie there were simply many moments of laughter...mostly focused on one particular situation, but we won't talk about that!

I'm looking forward to lots more cheery Christmassy socialising over the final 2 weeks of 2011 :)

Day 350: The Journey Home

I'm hoooome, can't say I'm thrilled! But, I've got my glass of red kola beside me, I'm off to a ceilidh tonight, and I found out on the way home that I've got a new cousin :) So the day ain't that bad. I stopped 7 times on my way back to Inverness after getting off the ferry this morning, they weren't long stops, only added about an hour on to my journey, and it meant I wasn't stuck in a convoy of ferry traffic! So with that, and my incredibly amazing singing along to the radio, the drive was thoroughly enjoyable!

I've decided to post a photo from each stop I made. They all generally involve water...hills...snow...trees...snow...hills...ha. I pulled over within about 20 seconds of getting off the ferry cause the sunrise was lovely and the water was yummy, and I want a boat.

 And then I decided to pull over when I saw this view...about 5 minutes along the road...

 And theeeeen when I reached the snow peaked hills I couldn't resist pulling over again...

 And of course when I reached the dam I had to get try out some more another snowy peaks photo, with water added to the mix!

And then I was noticing these beautifully frosty trees, so I pulled in to the Rogie Falls car park...and walked back along the road to get this shot down over the valley. It was only about a minutes walk, nothing crazy!

And then I was loving the sun still just peaking over the hills in the distance at this point in the journey, it was lighting the fields very niiicely, and the fields were getting quite misty too, but you can't really see it in this photo...

...in this next photo however, which was taken a couple miles later, the mist was CreyC so I just had to pull over again, and you can definitely see it this time...

So yeah, those are my happy snaps from my journey home :) Now...the ceilidh starts in 15 minutes...so I should be leaving...but I'm still in my joggers! So better go get ready. Have a lovely weekend!

Day 349: Sunshine in Uig

Paul stood us up today, decided not to come to Uig with us after all. Which was actually good cause we were able to have another lazy morning...ha, we were out of the house by midday though, impressive, uh? And on the way we spotted a double rainbow! Only one of them was all the way though, and the other didn't show up in the photie.

It was raining on the way there, but once we arrived at Valtos, the sky cleared and we enjoyed lunch (inside the car obvs, cause it was chilly like!) looking down on Valtos beach, and then went out for a wee stroll. Ignore the fat suit I'm wearing in the following photo...

And then we drove waaaaaaaaaaay along to the end part of Uig, and I ran out to snap a few photos down over the cliffs. I left Rach in the car, and she had a wee panic about what she'd do if I fell off the cliff...not how she'd save me, but how she'd get home. Ha. Thanks Rach. I left my phone in the car, and keys in the ignition, so she'd actually have been totally fine.

Day 348: Adventures In Ness

It was quite a drive, but we got there! And I've discovered that the people of Ness all love being stealthy, either that, or they simply don't know where the switch for their car lights is. It's incredible how many people we passed without their lights on. We enjoyed lunch in the car at the Port, like a couple of old wifies, then had a wee stroll along the beach. Then we headed for what is known as the best play park on earth, and revisited the beach that this wonderful photo was taken on :) When we got to the tops of the sand dunes we got a pretty good exfoliation from the extreme sand blast that the western wind was pushing up the beach. I think I still have sand stuck to my face! It was a lovely afternoon :)

Now we're watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Woop woop! And tomorrow we're hopefully off for a wee drive to Uig, and I do believe Paul's joining us, well, he didn't know that's where we're going...Hiya, you do now! We'll get you back on time for Dinner Dance, obvs, don't worry.

Day 347: Banter With the Twins

Rach and I did pretty much nothing today, and there was probably only about 20 minutes of daylight so no chance to take a photo outside! Ha. Paul joined us for dinner this evening, so we got some fantastic wide angle close ups of us all...well, more like just Rach...haha. They weren't too keen to use any of them for the blog...oh well!

When we dropped Paul off, Rach, because she's an absolute weirdo, suggested we take a photo of us peering down from their loft...just for the craic...so we did! Paul set up the camera, I totally didn't think he'd get up within the 10 second timer, but he did! But since he pushed the button I technically couldn't use it for my blog photo, here it is though...I look nice n' podgy with Paul's hat on, but other than that it's actually a pretty cute photo...ha!

Day 346: I'm SO Happy To Be HERE Bench Monday

We're in ma wee housie in Vatisker :D And the CreyC thing is, I took my Bench Monday photo at the same time as this when Katherine and I were up in June...but we were at Garry Beach, and the sun hadn't set yet and it wasn't super windy or raining! Ha.

Look, we're so happy!!

Haha, okay, we're watching a movie...more specifically The Hangover, I've never seen it, and you wouldn't think I'd want to from the name of it...but I've laughed quite a few times already. Ha. Ok, I'm gonna go now. Oh hey, the Internets working! Amazing huh, ha.

Check back tomorrow to find out what exciting things we've been getting up to :)

Day 345: Chips at the Hilton!

After a very snowless journey up to Aviemore (ok, there was some snow at the side of the road, but nothing like what I was expecting!), we checked in to the Hilton, dumped our bags in the room and headed straight for the swimming pool :) Amazing. I hoped we'd be the only ones using the pool but there were two families, and a bloke from California, who works at the hotel bar but it's his day off, his Mum is from Dundee, and he was born in South Africa...and he went backpacking through Yosemite with a friend and hopes to do it again next summer...yeah, we were gettin all his chat.

Then we watched the X Factor final, I'm chuffed the little girl band won, they're cuties! And then we went in to the Fish n chips shop in Aviemore and got some delicious greasy food to take back to the hotel and eat :) Living it up at the Hilton, for sure!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend :)

Day 344: Santaaaaaaa!...I know him. I know him!

For those of you who don't know what that's from, shame on you; it's from Elf! Watch it. Anyway, I was helping out at the Sunday School Christmas Party this afternoon, and I met Santa!! Last time I saw him was when I was in Sunday School myself, oh so many years ago. It was very exciting! He was kind enough to give me some chocolates, which some of my family members then proceeded to eat this evening. Ha.

The kids looked like they had a wonderful afternoon, probably because they were eating sweets almost every minute of the party. Haha. The leaders did an excellent job of organising everything!

I really need to go pack some stuff as tomorrow I'm heading up to Aviemore for the night with Rachel, and then Lewis for the week :) As long as the snow doesn't stop us...I'll be packing my wellies for sure, and every big jumper I own, and lots of thick socks, and and and, Sam can't wait for his first trip to The Island :D

Day 343: And So, It Begins!

I went in to town this morning to get a few Christmas pressie bits n' bobs, and get JD washed...ha, lazy cheat, I know. But he loves a bit of pampering! I enjoyed a stroll around the shops, got what I needed, thankfully, and then nipped to Starbucks for a takeaway before heading back to the car. I decided to get a sausage buttie as well as my decaf mocha, as I hadn't had lunch...so there's probably a few roll crumbs on JD's beautiful freshly cleaned floor...Oops. I'll pick them up tomorrow if there are any!

Anyway, moving from my messy car floor, to my messy living room floor! Would you believe, all that mess was for wrapping up just two presents. One was a pass the parcel prize though so it was like I was wrapping up 9 presents. My wrapping skills should be spectacular now.

And, when I was down, I got to unwrap a present!! Well, cut open a sellotaped box shipped from the US of A, after over a month of waiting, and saying goodbye to a few monies for custom duty charges. Yes, that's right, my new camera bag is here!! It's so much prettier than my other camera bag, and the strap's actually long enough to go over my head so it's way more practical. Tomorrow I'll need to take it out on an adventure! That might just have to be the Sunday School party though, depending on the weather. Haha. Here it is...

Day 342: It's Chriiiiistmaaaaaaas!!

So, this afternoon I totally put up the Christmas tree! And and aaaand, I was watching Elf while I worked :D There might not be any snow outside, but it is so totally officially Christmas. I've said totally twice in the last 3 sentences...I think I'm excited.
I attempted a multiplicity, but Sarah's pinched the tripod and it's quite difficult taking pictures in portrait format without moving the camera, so I only managed two of me. Ha.

I love Christmas decorations, I think I might go a little crazy when I have my own place; there'll be fat Santa's and lights everywhere! Think I'll buy some candy canes and chocolates to put on our tree this year...basically so that when I get hungry I won't have to go in to the kitchen...ho ho ho. I'll need to put them high enough so Fin can't reach though...

Next on the Christmas movie list...Santa Claus The Movie, Santa Claus 2, Santa Claus 3, Miracle on 34th Street, Hook, and of course Die Hard 1 and 2. Might as well watch the others while I'm at it. Oh, and The Grinch! Merry Christmas :)

Day 341: Cosy by the Fire

What I love about winter is being able to put the fire on without feeling guilty! Mmmm mmm, I love being cosy with a cuppa and a movie :) Hope you're all having a splendid week!

Day 340: Fin's Matching Underwear

We were out at Sarah's for dinner tonight, and I was loving Fin's matching green nappy and socks before bath time. I know, I know, it's the little things that make me even more obsessed about how cute he is!

Day 339: Odd Socks and Fish n' Chips Bench Monday

I'm not a fan of odd socks, and I'm ashamed that this incident has fallen on a Monday. I think I'll ask for socks for Christmas.

Day 338: Weekend Away 2011

Can I just start off by saying I'll never think my house is cold Ever again. I can't believe how cosy I am right now...without a hoody, or thick socks, or a blanket, or even a scarf. Amazing!

Now, despite the cold, it's been an excellent weekend! Our theme this year was Friendship, and we had Jonathan Watson leading our talks throughout the weekend. We focused on friendship with God, the most important friendship of all, and how to strengthen it. We looked at being 'in the world, but not of the world', having God at the centre of our hearts, not worldly objects, lifestyles, or emotions. And friendship with one another, and what is important to care for and strengthen one another in our walk with God. Jonathan was very easy to listen to, which is great when you've been up till half 4 the previous night.

It's always so great living with a group of wonderful Christians for a whole weekend, and having new faces each year. But also, those who weren't present this year, after being part of it for years, were greatly missed!

I have no idea how many times I've attended the Weekend Away, but I was remembering being one of the little ones, whose bedtime was far too early on Friday night, and the moment the ceilidh finished on Saturday night...but now I'm one of the oldies...the workers, beyond student age. I'm supposed to be wise now! Instead I'm just tired, and losing my voice.

After a delicious bowl of soup, I'm off to my bed! Ready to start the week with a rested body, and a mind filled with encouraging messages of God's word.

Day 337: Beach Babes In St Andrews

Day 336: Weekend Away Night 1- It's Great When Rach Decides To Come Along!

Day 335: Even Frosty Windows Are Beautiful!

I think it's very true what they say, about being able to find beauty in anything, because this is what I was greeted by when I climbed in to my car this morning. I didn't want to get the deicer! But, sadly, it was necessary for me to be able to get in to town for my business workshop...unless I drove like a dog; with me head out the window. But I don't think that would've gone down too well.

I had two more business workshops at Business Gateway today. Finances in the morning, from 9:30 till 1, and it was really good! I learnt more about profit and loss, cashflow and balance sheets. I've encountered these once or twice in my years at Rotech, but never really worked on them in depth, and during the workshop we had to do a couple wee exercises on them, it was great getting my brain working!

I then went to Markies and bought some lunch, which I ate in Starbucks with my delicious decaf mocha (with whipped cream, of course!!), and prepared myself for spending the next 5 hours shopping for Christmas presents! It was a rather successful afternoon in the end; I got Finlay's presents, part of Sarah's present, Richard's present, and a pass the parcel prize for my Sunday School classes Christmas party :) Oh, and a couple dresses for me...haaaa.

And then, despite being close to collapsing in a heap 4 hours in to my shopping, I attended the second workshop on "The Psychology of Selling" from 6:30-9:45. It was excellent!! I feel so much more motivated and confident to get myself going, and no doubt this will drain away in a couple days, but I've got all the power point slides to look over every day! And, I need to remember not to dwell on the negative thoughts, and focus on what I want, as what you dwell on, grows! Now, I know my Mother tells me this all the time, about not dwelling on the negatives, so it's sometimes true when they say "Always listen to your Mother"...but a lot of the time she just talks nonsense. Hi Mum! :)

I think it's been a pretty darn successful day! And when I got home I discovered a couple more of the Christmas presents I ordered on Saturday have arrived. Eek! I'm gonna need to get the Christmas tree up! Maybe I'll some spare time tomorrow before I go away...ho ho ho.

Day 334: New Sample Goodies!

My new sample albums arrived in the post yesterday, but I was out all day so tonight was the first chance I've had to look at them. And yeah sure, I took the photos, and designed the album myself, but I must say...it looks pretty darn gooood! There is the main 12x12" layflat album, one 8x8" replica parents album, and eight 4x4" replica guest albums in the sample pack. I'm in love with them all! Here's some photos...

 I love the cover image! I used pretty much an identical one as my 365 photo on the day :)

 I couldn't resist giving this image a douple page spread, it makes me laugh every time I see it :)

 Had to get in some of the shots of the bridal party having some fun...

This shows you the layflat style of the album; it's excellent! You don't end up chopping off part of your photos like you would in a normal curved page album, so double page spreads look amazing!

 And here's a couple shots of the replica parents album. Just as beautiful, just a smaller version :)
I absolutely loved designing this album, looking forward to being a part of more beautiful weddings next year!