A little cultural lesson...

November 5 is Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, in the UK. Anyone out there ever heard of this before? I certainly hadn't until we moved to Edinburgh, but with fireworks going off outside tonight and the smell of bonfire that filled the air earlier this evening I suppose I am now not only aware of, but somewhat experienced in the British tradition.

Although we were living here at this time last year, I didn't actually learn about this tradition until this year. Why? Because last year I was holed up in our flat desperately looking for jobs and manically filling out applications with little to no contact with the outside world. Oh, there are no words to express my gratitude for being out of that situation!

Guy Fawkes Night is the annual celebration of the day back in 1605 when Fawkes and a group of conspirators were discovered and stopped in their attempt to kill King James 1 and most of the protestant aristocracy by blowing up the House of Parliament. The plan was uncovered, Fawkes was arrested, and he and his conspirators were subsequently tried and hung.

The Brits now commemorate that fateful day every 5th of November by burning effigies of Guy Fawkes, setting off fireworks and lighting bonfires. It's quite the celebration going on tonight!

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

November??

In the middle of September I remember looking at my calendar and eagerly anticipating the arrival October, which I expected would be a calm and far more low key month than the ones before it. Inevitably my calendar filled up with work responsibilities, an ever growing personal to-do list as we're preparing for the baby, and mid-week social engagements as we've been trying to get more connected in our community here. And now we've turned the calendar page into November and I can hardly believe it!

November holds a lot of exciting dates for us and I'm so glad it's finally here! Here are the highlights:

This weekend: a mini-vacation from the chaotic work schedules we've both been managing - our last chance for a little getaway as a couple before the baby arrives and life becomes wonderfully different.

Nov 14/15: our 2-day intensive prenatal classes (I'd be curious if this qualifies as an "exciting event" for Tony...I think I'm speaking for myself on this one!).
Nov 18 - my last day of work!
Nov 19 - maternity leave begins! I've got big plans for the following 2 weeks before my due date - lots to get done!
Nov 26 - not just Thanksgiving, but also the day my Mom arrives in Edinburgh!
Nov 28 - my original due date, which I'm still attached to even though I know it will most likely come and go along with my new date of Dec 2.

And then we're into December which holds a whole other bundle of exciting events - my dad coming for the last part of my mom's visit, my sister, brother-in-law and niece coming for Christmas, and most definitely the arrival of Baby Bolos (hopefully earlier in the month than later)!!

Beyond the routine responsibilities that have been keeping us busy this last month, we've managed to have a lot of fun. I've been thoroughly enjoying the autumn season and all the beautiful colors and crisp, cool air that come with it. We enjoyed having a weekend visit from a friend studying down in London. We've been spending time with new friends and settling into our new home church by joining several groups. And we've been mesmerized by the active little baby that now has the ability to shift my entire stomach from one side to the other as it moves around! Life is full and I'm grateful for the connections we're finally starting to make after being here for a year.

A few picture highlights from recent events:

A recent walk through The Meadows

Our new Moses Basket for the baby, kindly lent to us by my manager at work

Tony's hands on my ever-growing belly!

A gorgeous autumn sunset in Edinburgh
(this is our neighborhood, by the way! I still love all the chimney stacks around here...)

First of many...

Yesterday morning Tony taught what will most likely (and hopefully!) be the first of many classes in his philosophy career. With undergraduate classes now underway here, Tony's responsibilities for the fellowship he received from the department have kicked into high gear. This year he will be doing 6 hours of "tutoring" per week, which is similar to being a teaching assistant in the US. This semester he is working with undergraduate students from a huge (500+ students) intro level philosophy course. Since the lecture class is so big, they break the students up into small groups of 14 students for a one hour seminar where they discuss the class material and get more personalized teaching from PhD students. Tony is really looking forward to the semester and the opportunity to work with these students over the course of the semester.

In other news, summer has officially bid us farewell here in Edinburgh as the days are now noticeably shorter and the infamous Edinburgh wind has returned. I don't really understand how wind can be a seasonal thing - I would have thought it to be a geographical one that wouldn't change with the seasons. But unless the past 4 months of still air were a fluke, the wind does seem to be seasonal here - and it's back!! This also means that even my best efforts to keep my hair in a presentable state before walking to work, church, etc. are now futile.

Baby Bolos seems to be growing well as my belly is getting bigger and bigger. I've hit my baby bump with the refrigerator door several times in the last couple of weeks, nearly knocked over the pot on the stove by hitting the pot handle with my belly and have noticed small collections of crumbs resting on top of my belly after eating crumbly things lately...so apparently I am getting bigger than I even realize!

We've started meeting people at our new church and Sunday felt like a major turning point in our quest to get connected. We saw many of people we've recently met through the two groups we've joined (a parenting class and a theology reading group) and actually sat with someone we knew during the service. For the first time in a long time I feel somewhat at home in a church and I'm so thankful that this is coming together as we're preparing a major life change with this baby on the way.

Anniversaries

The past month has been filled with significant dates and it has made for a reflective and sentimental few weeks for me. August brought with it the anniversary of when we moved to Peru in 2007 and the anniversary of leaving Peru in 2008. Yesterday marked the day of our move to Edinburgh last year after a blessing of a visit in Denver (yes, airfare was significantly cheaper on Sept. 11), which carries a lot of memories of saying goodbye and leaving family and friends behind indefinitely. Today marks our arrival here in Edinburgh, which brings a whole different set of emotions and memories with it. Suffice it to say that we're much happier to be one year into this where we can look back and laugh at all the chaos and confusion that clouded our first few weeks here!

These past few years have held a lot of change and transition, a lot of hellos and goodbyes. It feels good to know we'll be here for another 3 years, though its a bit weird to think that by the time we finish we'll have been here longer than we've been anywhere else since we've been married. Our hearts are still tied deeply to the kids and work in Peru and I'm still trying to find the emotional and practical balance of how to manage that while moving forward with our new responsibilities and involvements here. Looking back over the last year I think we were in a bit of holding pattern, trying to adjust to life here and prepare for what would be coming next. Now that Tony's received funding and we know we're staying for 3 years we've been taking many more steps to connect with our new community here. We're excited about what the next 3 years may hold and are ready to jump in!

As mentioned above, we've been doing a lot of laughing and reminiscing over the many things that we found so confusing when we first arrived here one year ago. While English is obviously our shared language with the Brits, we did have a learning curve for certain terms and phrases. A few examples:

Knock on wood = touch wood
Six and one half dozen of the other = a six and two threes-ies
Sick = vomiting (something I caught onto after getting a panicked look from my coworkers when I said I was sick! "Ill" is their term for feeling sick.)
Dinner = tea
Expensive = dear
Knock up = wake up
Sleep in = a long lie

We recently took a quiz on American vs. British English to test our progression over the last year. Take it and see how you do! US vs. UK Vocabulary

The Revival Begins

Earlier this week Tony said to me, "So I guess our blog is over, huh?" to which I replied, "No! I just haven't had time to update it in awhile." From there, the conversation went like this:

T - You realize you haven't put anything on there in over a month.
J - You realize we haven't been here much over the past month, and we've been busy moving and settling into our new place?
T - I think it's actually over two months since you've put anything on our blog.
J - And I've been back to the US twice since then, plus moved, plus have been quite busy (and exhausted) making a little person in this growing belly of mine.
T - I'm just saying, it doesn't seem like we're really going to keep up with our blog.
J - Well technically we haven't been keeping up with it at all over the last year, I have been. Maybe we should try to revive it.

So our attempt at reviving this blog is on. Never mind the fact that even before the most recent 2 month hiatus the postings were pretty sparse; we're trying to bring it back. And yes, I mean we. I'm going to be trying to get Tony to write on here every so often, though I may need to take the pink and green flowers off the background of the blog in order to help facilitate that. So if anyone out there still reads this, you can expect to hear more from us and can leave angry comments to whip us back into shape if we fall too far behind again.

An attempt at catching up for lost time would probably be overwhelming enough to kill the revival effort before it even gets started, so I suppose I'll just jump in at the present and see how we get on from here.

I'm sitting in our cozy living room in our new flat (a 2 bedroom flat to accommodate Baby Bolos in the coming year!) watching with delight as my belly is physically moving from all the dancing and stretching going on in the womb (a dance session that I likely induced with the bowl of ice cream I just finished, I should say). Tony is out at a send-off party for one of the guys he's been playing soccer with every Thursday night for the last year. Collectively we're grateful for the opportunity to still be here in Edinburgh pursuing this dream together.

Highlight of the week: the approval of a maternity policy at work that looks like it will provide me with a miraculous 6 months of paid maternity leave if our budgeting plans for living on 75% of my normal income prove to be feasible. The amount of shock that our American friends are probably feeling about this incredibly generous maternity provision can scarcely compare to the amount of distress our British friends are experiencing when they hear that there is no standard paid maternity leave in the US! We are simply amazed by this provision and humbled once again by God's provision for us.

With new found determination to be updating you again soon, that's all for now. Or as they say here, "That's me away!" Have a great weekend, everyone!

Grateful

There have been many things filling our days and weeks over the past month or so, and this morning I'm sitting with a cup of tea thinking of how much I have to be grateful for. Most of these things are deserving of their own blog post, but given my recent blogging habits it could take ages to get caught up that way, so I'll revert to a list format:

Biggest Bolos news: By the end of this year, "we" will be referring to three of us - I'm pregnant! The primary reason behind my lack of blogging in recent months has been exhaustion and illness related to this little miracle, and since I can use that as an excuse, I will! I am now 16 weeks along and am not only starting to feel better, but am starting to show a bit too which is just delightful. My original due date was November 28, but they've bumped it back to December 2 now. We had our first ultrasound at 12 weeks and it was an incredible experience. The baby was moving so much, doing somersaults and stretches the entire time, and I was absolutely amazed at how full of life this baby is already. Here's the first snapshot of our little one:
Most recent news: My dear sister and her husband welcomed their second baby girl, Kathryn (Kate) Elise, into the world yesterday morning. Everything went smoothly and safely, and we're so incredibly grateful for that. It's a bit strange being so far away for this kind of thing, but that leads to my next point...

Denver bound: We leave in less than one week for our two week visit home! There are no words to express how excited I am about this - I simply can't wait to be back in the place that is still very much my "home." Tony will be heading to NY for a few days to see his family while I'm in Denver on Auntie Duty. : ) We are looking forward most of all to seeing family and friends, but are also desperate for some Colorado sunshine, heat and summertime activities - as well as a lot of good, flavorful food!

Heat Wave 2009: Two weeks ago we had what the Scots are referring to as a "heat wave" - several days of sunshine and mid-70 degree weather. I put on my flip-flops for the first time since we arrived on Sept. 12 and Tony even broke out his shorts. We spent every minute outside that we could and it was truly blissful. The sun is most definitely therapeutic. : )

Visitors! Quite different from our visitor roster in Peru, we've not had many visitors since we've been in Scotland. But in May we welcomed my brother, two cousins, aunt and uncle for a quick 36 hour visit to Edinburgh. They were traveling up in Sweden and were able to find a cheap flight to come see us over the weekend. It was absolutely wonderful to be with them, and having Mike stay in our living room was a treat. We stayed up late both nights because I could hardly justify sleeping when my brother was right here! He also came bearing gifts: Peanut Butter M&M's, Reese's Pieces, Twizzler's and other yummies that hit the spot exactly. He also brought me a Mother's Day card, which meant the world to me coming from my younger brother. : )

At the end of May we had one of Tony's good friends from high school come to stay for two weeks. Brian just finished his two year commitment with the Peace Corps in Ukraine and came over for a visit and to get some R&R. I'm not sure how much R&R actually happened, but we certainly managed to have a fun visit together. : )

So those are the basics from the Bolos household. Pictures will be coming soon, and with any luck the 2nd trimester will bring with it many more regular posts here on our blog.

Happy summer!!

Humility

This morning I encountered this post on humility, written by Dr. Groothuis, the lead philosophy professor that Tony and I had the opportunity to study under at Denver Seminary. In my experience, humility is a rarely addressed subject within Christian circles, most likely because of the challenge of teaching on it without violating it, as Groothuis points out.

I strongly encourage you to read the full post, but I leave you with a few highlights to consider and hopefully draw you in to the link itself:

• Without humility, others may hear of Christ from us, but they will not see him in us. He will remain more of a rumor than a reality.
• Humility is rooted not only in our being rescued from sin by the Savior; it is equally rooted in our position as creatures of the Creator. We are not the source of our own existence nor of any good that greets us. All is a gift from Another--the thunderous rush of the surging waves of the ocean, the luminous smile of a wife or husband, a good night's sleep, a moonlit night, a child's laughter. All is received by mere mortals. Adam and Eve in all their unfallen splendor owed worship and thanksgiving to their Maker. As do we.
• Our salvation was achieved through humility and for humility. Humility was the very instrument of redemption.
• If we understand the gospel and know who we are in Christ, we can trust the kindness of God himself instead of pridefully seeking the flattery and approval of others. We are free to be humble in Christ because we are completely at peace with him through his crucifixion and resurrection.
• Second, we should note what things particularly disturb us and then ask, "Am I bothered because this is evil and offense to God or am I upset because my pride is hurt?" Am I more outraged at not having my good deed applauded than I am over the fact that my friend was cheated by an employer? If so, my pride outweighs my humility. Andrew Murray puts it strongly: "All sharp and hasty judgments and utterances, so often excused under the plea of being outright and honest; all manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation; all feelings of bitterness and estrangement--have their root in nothing but pride, that ever seeks itself."
• But humility comes when our self-esteem is grounded in God's gracious estimation of us rather than in the varying opinions of others.
• Humility is not optional for Christians. The humility of Jesus secured a salvation which makes humility both possible and necessary. It is not simply one virtue among many, but the root of all righteousness--because only humility puts us in our rightful place before the Creator and Redeemer. And only humility puts us in the ethical position to represent our Master with authenticity.

I hope you'll be encouraged by these truths as I am today.