All Settled In...

The last few months since returning to the U.S have been quite busy. Just days after arriving home, we traveled to Houston for Erik's JOLP (Junior Officer Leadership Program) Graduation. We were able to see many work friends that we hadn't seen in a long while. We were hoping to get a round of golf in, but the torrential rains in the days before our arrival caused the course to be closed. Nonetheless, we had a great time! Our next trip was a drive down to Wheaton, IL (Erik's hometown) to celebrate the MDiv Graduation of our brother-in-law, Jonathan. We spent a lot of time with our family and were able to see all the nieces and nephews on the Barton side (7+2 on the way!). It is truly amazing how fast kids grow!


We have also been able to spend some time with Marin's family. Marin's parents took care of Lola when we were gone and although they didn't mind having the fat cat, they were more than willing to bring her back shortly after our return!! Marin's childhood cat "Murphy" did not take to Lola so well. When the Anderson's came they helped us prune our yard to get it ready for summer. We are now enjoying the fruits of all of the boys labor! Here are some pictures of our backyard in bloom!

Still waiting for the daffodils to bloom....

We also took a last minute trip to Las Vegas with the Anderson's. It was a great weekend, and Erik and I had some luck. The weather was actually perfect for walking around (mid-seventies). We are looking forward to spending the 4th of July with Marin's parents, Aunt/Uncle and cousins in Duluth. If we're lucky, we might also squeeze a trip up to the Boundary Waters where Marin spent a lot of time as a kid.


Marin is back at work full time for the same non-profit that she worked for before, but no longer managing the foster home. Her new role is as a project based consultant, which she really enjoys. She is currently working on updating policy/procedure and conducting a organizational review and workflow/process analysis of the residential treatment program. Erik is finishing up his Blackbelt projects from Aberdeen and negotiating his next position within GE, which could require a move to Houston, TX.


As we patiently wait to see where we might be headed next, we are enjoying the WI summer. We have been golfing, spending time with the Ross's, enjoying BBQ's with the neighbors and Marin has rejoined her neighborhood bunco group.


We hope this post finds everyone enjoying the beginning of summer. Happy Father's Day to all the dads in our life!

Back in the U.S.A

On 21 April we left Aberdeen for our home in Wisconsin. We are very grateful for the opportunities that we had and the people that we met while living in Scotland. Although we already miss our Scottish lifestyle, upon our return we realized that there are several luxuries that we had forgotten....or at least missed a lot:

• A dishwasher - never realized how many dishes can be broken by handwashing!
• Full size washing machine - we were only able to wash 3 t-shirts at a time (I know that Erik is a bigger guy, but c'mon he's not that big!!)
• A yard with green grass - no snow thank goodness!
• A king size bed and large soaking tub
• Our piano
• Being in the same time zones as family and friends
• Lola (although she won't arrive until Friday, a HUGE thanks to Marin's folks for taking her)

What we will miss most from Scotland is:

• Football matches at the pubs
• Walking everywhere we needed to go
• Having a gym in our building basement - (no excuses there!)
• Trying new foods - even if it was haggis...
• Our weekend adventures
• The ocean, highlands and history
• Everyone saying "cheers" for absolutely everything
• Sticky Toffee Pudding

Even though our travels are done for the time being, it is our intention to keep up with the blog. We will do our best to keep the Chronicles up to date.

Thanks to everyone who has been checking our blog so far!!

Cheers,

Marin and Erik

It was a Lovely Weekend for a Guinness

Erik and I spent last weekend in Dublin with the Tucci’s. We were really excited for the trip although a little nervous for the Ryanair flight (they are considering payment to use the on-board bathroom!). Needless to say, we arrived on time and quickly found ourselves in a cab with a very chatty and informative driver. Our first night was spent at the Porterhouse listening to some live music. At this establishment we first learned just how expensive Dublin was. To put it in perspective, a round of 4 pints of beer cost the equivalent of $30!!

The second day was our official Guinness Day. We toured the Storehouse and old factory. They really did a nice job walking you through the brewery process without actually being in the functional brewery. The building was 7 floors high, with the gravity bar on the top floor where we redeemed our free pint overlooking the city. One of the most interesting things that I learned during this experience was that doctors used to prescribe (literally) Guinness for aliments and recovery. They also prescribed it for moms who were breastfeeding! My, how times have changed.

The following day we took a tour of the city on the open top bus. Despite the windy chill the tour was a really good way to see the city. The tour highlighted almost all of the major sights in Dublin, as well as their “White House,” which is where their Prime Minister lives, and literally is a small version of what we have in the US. We spent the evening visiting different pubs seeking out authentic live Irish music. We found several pubs where people just brought their instruments in and started playing, others had set bands. There was spontaneous Irish dancing at almost all of the pubs we visited.

Although we really enjoyed our trip to Dublin, we were definitely surprised by the cost (ranks up there with Oslo in our opinion) as well as the state of the city. The tourist section, Temple Bar, was very nice and pretty much clean; however, as you went away from that area we saw a lot of abandoned and closed shops. For me, it wasn’t as clean as had expected it to be. We are certainly glad we had the opportunity to visit Dublin. If we are able to visit Ireland in the future, we would like to take our time exploring more of the countryside.