Heaven Here

Have you ever been to a magical bluebell forest?

There is one in Stirling, Scotland, if you'd so care to go. Saturday was the most amazing day in the existence of all the cosmos. Should anyone want to replicate such a day, here's the recipe:

Start with a very dodgy orange bus:

Don't let the man in the kilt scare you, his name is Donald and he's oh so friendly.

Next, add the coastal town of Queensbury. This is an essential step that can't be skipped. Why? So all the asian tourists can get off and take pictures of the bridge. 

Oh yeah... and me too. 

Next step, return to the bus where you will be enchanted by stories of William Wallace and his dashing escapades. Try to forget that William Wallace was not a highlander, but really a middle-class intellectual from Glasgow. Don't worry, the real Scottish superheroes come later.

Add just a pinch of inspiration, but don't overdo it. And get off and tour the sites where William Wallace somehow discovered blue body paint.

is that too much?

Then throw in a generous amount of pure Scottish glory

The result should look very green at this point

Add hairy "coo" (cow, for those of you who don't speak Scot) to taste. 

Let them do most of the tasting, actually. For those of you who wondered, 

hairy coos are particularly fond of white bread.

Get back on that bus, because Donald has some stories to tell you. Today you get to learn all about Rob Roy! The original mobsta gangsta with a fresh side of red hair! Rob Roy stole cattle from all his neighbors then promised he'd stop only if they paid him. What a lad!

When your day has boiled over from straight up awesomeness, be sure to sprinkle in the Monty Python Castle, and your most favorite person in all the land.

With bonus hairy coo hats!

Finish by pairing the end of the world (that's right, ladies and gentlemen, Rapture has arrived) with the World's End Pub.

The lovely English boy who offered to take our picture got too excited when we told him it was the end of the world and there was a bar right there... hence he couldn't wait for us to smile.

but we really were there

Garnish with shots of Smirnoff! It's the end of the world after all! Just kidding... but really. That's what everyone else was doing.

And there you have it! The makings of a perfect day! But, don't try this at home. Perfect day is best made in entirely unfamiliar surroundings :)

Love,

Heather.

Alisse. After the end of the world.

So Impossible

For the past week and a half, I've been on a van. And, of course, that van was always filled with balloons. Always.




And I've been doing this:




That's right. I've been holding a lot of balloons. All week. Who is that man, you might ask?


That is Alex Salmond. He is the recently re-elected first minister of Scotland. Personally, I think he's really awesome. He's working under the big idea that Scotland needs to be independent from Britain.

It makes sense.
This is a country where they have everything. The electricity works, the water runs, they have jobs, personal liberties and yet... at the end of the day Scotland has little power over their own taxation, over many of the laws which govern their nation and they have almost no say in the EU.
Many of the Scottish people are terribly afraid of the idea of an independent Scotland because of what happened to Ireland and especially their economy. But what the SNP is saying is "we can do it". I'm all for people who say "we can do it". And on Thursday May 5th, the people of Scotland also said "we can do it!"

They voted approximately 70 SNP members into the Scottish Parliament. That's a majority portion of parliament, which has never happened before in the history of modern Scottish Elections. In fact, majority parties aren't supposed to happen. But the SNP did it, because the people voted them into power. And in about 2 or 3 years, we hope Alex will (after taking measures to stabilize the economy and improve education) introduce a referendum that allows for Scottish Independence. And I personally hope the people of Scotland say, once again, "we can do it"

Also, is it too early to start making William Wallace references?
Yes? okay. We'll wait a few years.

But I'm so proud of the SNP, particularly these wonderful people

Whom I've had the singular pleasure of riding many many miles in a van with. They're great guys and really hard workers. Sometimes they sing and that's not always lovely, but who can blame them for being so happy?

Okay, enough of the campaigning.
Actually, there's not much else to talk about... because that's really all we've been doing! Haha, we haven't had much time for tourism, but I can say that I love love love Scotland, its so beautiful and green and fun. I love the ward here and I'm deeply impressed by the YSA kids, they're always friendly and so so so strong in the gospel. And I love Alisse! Who couldn't adore a roommate like this?

 

She's absolutely the very best! We have so much fun together and I'm infinitely glad that I'm getting to know her.

Also, bonus pictures of Scotland that I found whilst looking for a picture of Alisse:

Am I one lucky duck or what?! All of these are just from the city of Edinburgh alone. I LOVE Scotland so much!
P.S. If you wanted to eat fresh baked rye bread with homemade strawberry vanilla jam and cheese, a good place to do that would be on a hill underneath a castle while the sun shines down on you.

Much Love!

Heather.