The longer I run...

Guys, it's been quite a couple of months!

I don't even know where to begin, really. But let's try the beginning, and see how far we get, shall we?

Let's start with graduation. We had Greg's graduation, which was fantastic. The Latin, the head-bonk, the freezing outdoor reception at night, in Scotland, in November (whose idea was that?)... Plus he looked ever so handsome! How's about some photos of the occasion?

There he is! The graduand!

Then I wandered off to document his academic buildings...

And here he is, the graduATE! Excuse the blurriness...They were all in a tizzy because the band was playing the Indiana Jones theme as they recessed. (Yes. I am for real. They followed it with Spaceballs.)

Aaaaand us, at the reception. Note the excellent surroundings. Just be glad you can't feel the cold like we were.

It was great. We went out for tapas in the West End, had some drinks with his coursemates to celebrate. All wonderful!

Then it was my graduation up next! I don't have my own photos (Greg has them, and he's a notorious delinquent for keeping them on his camera...) I'll snag some from Facebook to give you the gist of it...

Here we are as graduands....

And here's the whole gang after the ordeal! (Well, minus one who was in the wrong country and another who was about 5 hours too far south)

And here's me with my old flatmate from our St Andrews days :)

 There's been a lot of tumult in the meantime, as well. Greg and I stayed in Glasgow for Christmas, which was lovely (if a little bit quiet). We missed our families, but we spent lots of time on skype trying to make up for it, and I even got a little Christmas shrubbery (it's not really a tree...), which we named Albert (Albert Pine. Also goes by Al Pine. Get it? GET IT?) I made a lot of food, including but not limited to a kicka** French onion soup which Greg has decided he would like to eat every day for the rest of his life. All I can say is goodness we're getting married, because it's about the only (gourmet) thing I know how to cook...

New Year's (or Hogmonay, as they call it here :)) was great fun, as Julia and Tamara (pictured in the first in my graduation series up there) came down to Glasgow to partaaay with us. Which mostly consisted of having some beers at Brewdog. But hey, it's where all Greg's & my friends were, so it was very merry indeed! We were there "for the bells" (As there's no enormous sparkling ball in any city nearby, it just sounds a little vulgar to say "when the ball drops" over here), and we even swigged a little champagne with Greg's Icelandic friend, Bobo (A detail that I include mainly because I can and it's awesome).

But after all the hubbub of the holidays had died down, we finally came to terms with the fact that Greg's visa is going to expire at the end of this week, and that we probably have to figure something out. We then spent the week after New Year's in a bit of panic trying to figure out what to do, before deciding that he'll go on a "federally mandated holiday" to the continent then come back for a couple weeks to pack his stuff. Meanwhile, I'll stay here, working at my part-time cocktail bar job and pack my stuff up. And we'll both leave together on January 29! WOW.

I'm excited to go back, though. It's hard to leave a place that I've lived in for almost year and a half. (two years in total!) But I'm not gonna lie- I've missed my family, and I've missed my friends. I've had a fun time here in Glasgow, but it's also been one of the most challenging places. To mark the occasion, I'm going to make you listen to one of my all-time absolute favorite songs of my life. Ironically, it became my "theme song" of the moment the first time I came over to Scotland...But now, almost exactly four years later, it rings pretty true as well. Wandering just feels like a theme for me right now, I suppose. Give it a listen (and tell me if you don't totally adore it):

The Longer I Run (Peter Bradley Adams)

It's taken a lot to reach this decision to leave at this point (rather than fight the border agency on the matter of Greg's visa, or ride out my own visa until March). It's been hard for both of us, and I think we both feel like we're giving up something, whether that's a life we've worked hard for or a career that we're putting on hold. And I think the uncertainty has pretty tough, too. But the longer I try to hang on to living out here, the more I just want to go home. Of course, it's also been an adventure to decide what we're going to do when we get back. And it's so exciting to figure it out together!

And, right now, it's looking like our 20-something syndrome will finally hit when we do land on US turf for good, since we'll be living with our parents till our job situations shake out....

But the good news is that they might just shake out soon! I won't say anything too specific, but Greg's got his hands in a lot of pies, so to speak. There are a few options for him career-wise, and those options are really very exciting! So exciting, in fact, that I've decided to put my PhD plans on hold for the next year. It's a long story, and I'm happy to tell it. But just know that we're very at peace about the decision to pursue Greg's career in the first year of our marriage!

Speaking of which, that's happening. In fact, it'll be happening FIVE MONTHS from today! Woah. Let's take it in for a minute. 5 months from today, I'll be a wife. And since that's such an overwhelmingly awesome thought I think I'll leave you with that.

More to come as I finish up my last few weeks in the country....And start scheming my return as soon as possible :)