Christmas Letter 2014

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's my 2014 Christmas card!

Overall, 2014 has been an incredible year. New meetings, partings, reconnecting, visas, exams, trips and attending the plethora of weddings, engagement parties and baby-showers that come with being in your 30s.

The first few months of the year were concerned with my Life in the UK exam. Twenty-four questions to determine if the last nine years of my life in Scotland were going to be worth the effort was a pretty daunting. Thankfully, I passed the test with flying colours (23/24) and it was fun to bust out all the study techniques that I learned in school (thanks to all my teachers for the confidence they gave me by instilling great study skills). Go on, take the Life in the UK exam. So after a swathe of bureaucracy I got my visa away and it came back in four months approved.

Yes folks, I'm officially a UK resident, now just six months away from becoming a naturalised citizen. That's the plan at the moment. I figure with the world politics changing at an ever increased pace it would be prudent to have my UK passport this way, heaven forbid, the change the rights of non-EU residents (or any non-citizen). I'm never going to not be American - but it's nice to know that I have two places I belong.

Brighton

New tattoo - ouch!!

Berks of Aberfeldy

It was a lovely summer here. I wasn't sure at the time when my passport would be returned so I saw a bit more of local attractions on weekend jaunts with friends. Coincidentally (fate) I had a holiday to Brighton the week my visa came back approved. More than enough reason to celebrate. I might have celebrated too much, much to my bank account's dismay. Brighton is on the southern coast of England. It was absolutely perfect weather - hot days, mild evenings, no rain and a beach. The water was freezing and the rocks were sharp, but I had a good laugh visiting with my mates Steve, Shug and Kade. I'd definitely recommend it as a summer destination (as long as it's not raining). I saw lots of Scotland attractions as well. I visited the Kelpies and Cairnpapple Hill with my mate Ian.  I went to my first casino. I traversed the Berks of Aberfeldy and the Queen's View with Ross. I travelled Argyll and Bute with Doug. And I finally invested in a gym membership and got a sweet new tattoo!

Kelpies in Fife

On the boat to Bute

Work's been a bit of a bother this year (*understatement*). I think the overwhelming nature of the visa process and then suddenly having the restrictions of my previous visa cast off plus the stress of having issues with one of my bosses for the last few years just resulted in a total meltdown. I had to take a few months off work to try and sort out the personal, as well as personnel, issues there. The positive side of it all is I've come out the other side feeling happier in my work thanks to various changes and I think I understand a bit more about 'the game' that is working for a large bureaucratic organisation AND I still have a job. So, awesome! A side result has been that I've been getting more involved with Equality and Diversity at work. It's been good to have a place to channel my passion for fairness for everyone. No matter what I do in the future it's something I'd like to maintain. I even got to attend the Stonewall Scotland work conference and did a video for One Scotland on the subject (pardon the extremely dry lips. I was just recovering from norovirus). I'm currently looking into other fields now that I have the freedom to move jobs. It's a bit scary to suddenly have the world as my oyster again, but I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to find the right job that will fulfil my financial and intellectual needs. Also, I'm looking into part-time tutoring again. It's something that I've enjoyed in the past so will be extra money and a potential avenue for career development and have a few interviews on the horizon. The application, interview process is a stressful but at least I'm getting positive feedback. Now I just need some luck I guess.

I'm hard at work on Book 2, Spirit Shear, which is the follow up to my first book, Black Star (buy Black Star on Amazon in the UK and US), in the Emersus Project series. It's so enjoyable to be writing the characters again and getting to know new ones. I learned so much from writing the first book which is making the second go much smoother (not necessarily quicker). I have a process that works well for me and it means I can try and expand myself in other ways. Book 2 is also going to be fun because now that we know the characters I can bring out other parts of them and we get a lot more of Mhetli who is quickly becoming my favourite character to write (sorry, Sem!).

I attended an amazing wedding in September. My mates Paul and Caroline Inglis got married in Knoydart which is an incredibly remote peninsula off the west coast of Scotland. It's only accessible by boat, no phone signal and frankly, magical. Even the midgies couldn't spoil the event. I was honoured that Paul and Caroline asked me to sing Barry White's 'You're My First, My Last' as their first dance and be an usher at their wedding. I also participated in the 'Loony Dook' where you jump into the freezing cold water first thing in the morning.

Loony dook

Why? I don't know. I also got to play with their local ukulele band!! :D In other wedding/baby news, my friend and college room mate 'Downstairs' Dan Venning got married to his wife Emma. Jesus Tirado (who I've known since I was ten) and his wife Amy just had a baby girl, Callie. I wish I could have been there to witness them all first hand (well maybe not the birth bit, Amy). But I'm so touched that they all wanted me to be included in their joy. It means a lot. I also got to play host to Stephanie Hagan, a friend from college, and her husband Sam on their way to Rome! My mates Ray and Craig got engaged so I had a trip down to London to celebrate with them. And now that gay marriage is legal in Scotland I have a few 'wedding again' celebrations to attend. :)

Two pouting posers

During the summer I was in a show 'Our House' where I met my beau, John McFaul from Danderhall. :) It was a great show; very very high energy. It was great to reconnect with friends there and be part of the chorus. As usual I got squeezed into an array of loud, sparkly, sometimes obscene, scene stealing costumes. I'd like to say that I'm embarrassed, but I totally love it. And John's an incredible guy. He's equally loud, sparkly and obscenely scene stealing. So over all, favourite show I've done so far.

We even had a great Halloween with a couples costume of Riff Raff and Magenta from Rocky Horror. It was indeed frightening... how awesome we looked!!! It was a fun night. We even did some pumpkin carving which I haven't done in years!!! And then I got gastroenteritis! lol

John's first Thanksgiving

I had two Thanksgivings! Neither was on Thanksgiving day, a phenomena that seems possible only once you live away from home. One with the Uncles Mark and Mickey. John got to join us for his first Thanksgiving experience. The other at my friend Lindsay's which is always outstanding! If you've never had her coleslaw, you've never had coleslaw! So much food. So many leftover. So joy. The weirdest thing was that Black Friday made it over to Britain. It was just bizzarre.

My hall all decked

Christmas this year is looking to be a good one too. I'm spending Christmas Eve with John, Christmas day with Mark and Mickey, and before that there are a host of catch-ups, coffees, cocktails and cooking sessions that will be happening with friends. I love this time of year because everyone tries just a little bit harder to be more sociable. The trick is to plan some 'ME' time in there as well. :)

I've made a lot of new friends (a lot of them awesome people John has introduced me to), kindled better friendships, hopefully maintained the relationships in my life that are worth keeping, and I'm focussing my energy on the people and things that matter most to me and make me happy. Getting older is a weird mix of gains and losses that I'm slowly learning to navigate better by understanding that as long as you focus on the gains more your whole perspective on life becomes a lot happier.

I hope you're all happy and whole this season and here's to a new year!

Enjoy!
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