May... it happened!

Let me start out by apologizing for being almost two weeks late on the May update. Not that I'm egotistical enough to imagine that some of you are sitting out there on the first of each month, feverishly waiting for me to post our monthly update... but still. My parents arrived in St Andrews on May 31st, and I have neither had the time nor the desire to spend time blogging while they've been here! Explanations and excuses for the delay offered, let me bring you up to date on our lives.

• As you know if you read our April recap, it was a very full month, and I was really looking forward to a bit of return to normal in May. Looking back on it, that is certainly how it turned out. As a result, there's not a ton to report! The weeks passed with Liana heading to Balgove and me to my office in the Roundel on the weekdays, and spending time with friends and with each other in the evenings and on the weekends.
• Liana is loving her job, which is absolutely wonderful. The Balgove finally opened up their newly-expanded shop and cafe towards the end of the month, so things were pretty crazy busy for a while there. The week before their "grand opening", Liana worked 40 hours in 3 days! Liana loves the environment there, she's challenged by and enjoying her work, and she works with some really great people that she has enjoyed getting to know. This job has truly been an answer to prayer, a great blessing that has been given. Who would have known that coming to Scotland for me to work on my PhD would have resulted in Liana having such an incredible experience? God is good!
• Also opening at the Balgove in May? The Steak Barn! For the summer months they convert a big open barn on the property into a haven for meat lovers everywhere. They have a giant open-flame grill, a big deep-fryer, and all the necessary liquid accompaniments to make for seriously enjoyable summer food. They make the best burgers in town, great grilled house-made sausages, steaks, and the biggest racks of ribs I've ever seen. We've already had four meals there!

At Balgove's Steak Barn!

• My work has been going OK this past month. I've basically just been trying to move forward, conquering the next section of the chapter I'm currently working on. It's been a bit up and down productivity-wise. I'm feeling a bit anxious about how far I'm going to get this summer, seeing as how time in my office is going to be repeatedly broken up by conferences and our trip home. However, there's not much to be done about that now. Just have to do my best. There is just so much material out there that I've got to deal with!
• One of the things we've really enjoyed doing with our friends has been having fires down on the beach. It is really awesome to live so close to three beaches, each with their own positive qualities. Castle Sands is a particularly good one for a campfire, as it's in a small sheltered inlet, under the ancient walls of the castle ruins. Not a bad place to spend an evening!

A beautiful St Andrews evening

• Also in May was Eurovision, our introduction to a staple of European culture. Not going to go into too much detail (you can google it), but basically it's a singing competition that happens every year involving European nationalism, pop music, and (if you're lucky) some ridiculously out-there dancing, costume work, and "music". We were expecting a lot of this (please, please click on the link and be prepared to be gob-smacked); unfortunately, what we ended up getting was a lot of sub-par singing and somewhat boring pop music. But hey... the guy from Italy had a nice suit on. I guess that's something.

I think that's about it for May! June so far has been fantastic, as we've been having a wonderful time with my parents in town. But I'll save that for next time.

Peace, everyone!