05/31/11 - Amy

"Lunch in the Park"
...with the honey bees and my honey :)
It was a gorgeous day today (for Scotland, which means, around 60F), so my man and I met each other for lunch on campus in the Botanical Gardens. I was only able to snap this one picture before my battery died. I'd rather the sandwich be in focus and the background not, but, oh well. Lunch was awesome anyway!

05/30/11 - Amy

"Latvian Books"
I posted these books back to myself from Riga; a bunch of new publications on Latvian art for the university library. They arrived today and I took this picture of them. The best part about the book on top - it has a reference to one of my articles in it! The book is a collection of interviews with contemporary artists, and the woman who interviewed the artist that I write about asked him about my interpretation of his work. It was so amazing to open this book and see that I have been written into Latvian art history!

05/29/11 - Amy

"Day Trip to St. Andrews"
The main objective was to get this ice cream.

The trip almost didn't happen, because of what happened the night before. Even though that story is completely unrelated to this picture, it bears telling. On Saturday night Matt and I got trapped in my bedroom. As much fun as that might sound, it was actually pretty frightening. Somehow, someway, the doorhandle broke, when the door was shut. We could turn it, but it came loose, the turning it didn't activate the mechanism that releases the latch. It wasn't a question of the door being locked, we simply couldn't open it from the closed (unlocked) position. What's more, my bedroom windows don't open all the way, they only tilt open, about 5 inches. Thankfully, my phone was in the room with me, but nothing else - my purse, car keys, and, most importantly, tools. While Matt tried everything from picking the door apart piece by piece to breaking it down, I called the police. They were completely unhelpful and unsympathetic. At first they tried to get someone from the city council to come by, but then they told me they had "more pressing" emergencies to deal with. They told me to call information, get the number for a locksmith, and call him. Of course, it was around 1am on Saturday/Sunday. I called about 10 locksmiths, none of them answered. Just as I was about to give up hope, Matt - the hero of the day and my hero forever - managed to get the door open. Although it doesn't really sound that scary in the re-telling, it was pretty frightening to experience, at least for me. For about two hours, I had no idea how we would get out. Even smashing the window wouldn't help, because then we would simply be out in the cold. He has my spare key, so there was no way to get back in to the apartment. At one point, I totally lost it and freaked out, but my man stayed cool as a cucumber, calmed me down, and told me that everything would be ok. As if I didn't know this already, this experience simply reaffirmed that I have got myself an amazing and wonderful man :)

The way that this story relates to the picture is that because we were up so late trying to break free, I was worried that we wouldn't be able to make the 2-hour drive the next day. We were both exhausted, but decided to go anyway. It was the perfect thing to do. The weather was gorgeous, the scenery beautiful, and we both had a lovely day, thus making up for the previous evening!

And I am sure that there is a typo, but Paul, I am not going to proofread this, so, you'll just have to deal with it ;-)

05/28/11 - Amy

"Butterflies"
Not my favourite picture in the world, but it was all I could come up with today. My friend Edgars (the one I visited in Latvia) sent me this postcard, telling me to enjoy the butterflies (in my stomach) from being in love. The postcard holder holding it was a gift from my mom. When I took this picture, it was the first time that I noticed that it also had a butterfly on it. In the foreground is the Easter egg that I painted to remember Easter this year. And the cupcake was a gift from Anna!

05/27/11 - Amy

"Happiness"
Guess who drew this? ;-) It just makes me smile, every time I see it. Viking is not an avid draftsman; this is just a random doodle that I happened to find that he made. So I stuck it next to something else that makes me smile whenever I see it...this magnet from my Soul Sister, Lori :)

05/25/11 - Paul


It finally happened - he discovered and learned the Nintendo.
(And how cool is it that he can fit like that in a
bean bag chair? I sure wish I could!)

05/24/11 - Paul


The "Old" Solar System

05/23/11 - Paul


Put More In or Dump It?

05/22/11 - Paul


Spongejack Squarepants

05/21/11 - Paul


Mowing the yard is hard work - and supervising is harder still!

05/20/11 - Paul


Conflicted / Confused Superhero

05/19/11 - Paul


A Rare Shot

05/18/11 - Paul


Big Family on the Road

05/17/11 - Paul


Heavy Conversation

05/26/11 - Amy

"Ice Cream Break!"
I was sitting in my room marking exams - about halfway through the 123 scripts I have to mark - and guess who came in and said "you want some ice cream?" Yeah, my awesome boyfriend, that's who! But he didn't just make me ice cream, he made me an ice cream sundae!!! I don't think anyone, aside from my parents, has ever made me a sundae before! He even brought it to me in bed, and then said "if you want a break, you can come out here and eat it with me," an offer which I couldn't refuse.
I also love the fact that we both wear plaid PJs as our 'lounge wear' around the house :)

05/25/11 - Amy

"Milkshake Season"
One of my favourite times of year - fresh local berries in the supermarket available all the time; combined with non-fat yogurt and skimmed milk, this makes for a delicious, tasty, filling and dietetic treat! :)

05/24/11 - Lori

Last year, I was in the hospital waiting on Cassie all day saying, "She better not make me miss the American Idol finale tonight!!" ... Sure enough, the (almost) worst labor was happening during the finale, and I made them turn it off ~ I could not have any sensory distraction, it was just how it was.

Tonight is another AI finale. I've been a bit emotional today (that's what happens when you don't process something for a year, I guess) My Cass started drinking her ba's (as we call her bottle) right as the show started, and when she started to snooze I kept her with me to soak in the cuddles. The contrast of one year to the next was amazing.

THEN my favorite contestant sang THIS SONG. 'Emotional' no longer applied - there I was, holding my girl, remembering her birth and her first year. And THIS SONG came on. This song is everything I strive to be as a mother. Seriously? A woman can only take so much emotion in one evening!!!!!!!!!!!

05/23/11 - Amy

"Candlelight"

05/22/11 - Amy

"The Viking and the Sea"

05/22/10 - Lori

05/21/11 - Lori

05/20/11 - Lori

I am that parent who goes into her baby's room every night at least 3-5 times to check if she needs a blanket, to see if she is breathing, or just to marvel at her peaceful beauty. Rarely does she sleep on her back - oh, the marvel I had while taking her picture while she slept this night!

05/19/11 - Lori

05/20/11 - Amy

"A Celebratory Drink"
I sat down at this cafe for a celebratory drink after meeting with a publisher here in Latvia. I won't reveal too much yet, but let's just say that that second book may not be that far away...

05/19/11 - Amy

"Riga from the Rooftops"
I had a lovely dinner tonight; this was my view. My friend Edgars took me to a new rooftop bar/restaurant in Riga. It was warm, the sun was setting, and we had a lovely meal outside (something I can't do in Aberdeen)!

05/18/11 - Lori

Special Delivery

My grin was so wide when I got my mail today, you'd think it was MY birthday gift that had arrived from Scotland!!! We have not opened it yet, we are waiting for the big day.

05/18/2011 - Amy

"My Favourite Kiosk"
This is my favourite kiosk in Riga, and probably in the world. In the 1920s, visionary architects sought to redesign cities in these futuristic styles. Very little of this visionary architecture was built, but every now and then you find a piece of it. I just think it's so fun.

05/17/2011 - Amy

"Pannas"
So, these are some of the paintings by Miervaldis Polis. He is a painter and a performance artist, and I am mainly interested in his performances, but find his paintings interesting too. These are real frying pans, painted to look as if there are eggs frying in them. It's called 'trompe l'oeil' painting, which means to fool the eye. This was taken at the opening of an exhibition about Latvian art in the 1960s and 70s, which coincided with the conference I was speaking at.

05/16/2011 - Amy

"In the Archives"
In 2004-2005 I had a grant to love in Latvia in order to complete my research on the artist Miervaldis Polis. Every afternoon I came to the reading room at the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art and read articles about him. There were two big ring binders full of articles since the late 1980s. And I read every single one. Every time I come back to Latvia I revisit the Centre and its archives, to see if there are any new articles, or anything that I've missed. On Monday, I came back to to discover that I am now in those very folders that I pored over several years ago! This is an advertisement for a talk I gave in January of 2009, right before I left Riga, and an article about me and my research, that was published just before I left as well. There were also some articles that I wrote about Polis. Never in a million years did I think, seven years ago when I started this research, that I'd ever end up in these folders! Really, truly amazing.

05/17/11 - Lori

More Stress

04/16/11 - Lori



Stress

I am eating my stress this week. To say the work week sucks is an understatement. I snapped this quick photo (I'm afraid it's an iPhone week, folks) before devouring my stress - in hindsight I wish I had staged it better. Seeing as we have auditors in this week and ar supposed to be observing strict borrower security guidelines at all times - taking pics with Mortgage documents around probably was not the best idea, so it's probably best it was a quick shot.

05/15/11 - Lori

$44 for a Civic. Holy Shit.

05/16/11 - Paul


Class

05/15/11 - Paul


Shelley and Meemom

05/14/11 - Paul


Hard at Play

05/15/2011 - Amy

"Eduards Smiļģis"
I always loved this mural when I lived in Riga. Smilgis was a Latvian theatre director, and they painted this mural, after a photograph, on the side of one of the theatres in town.

05/14/2011 - Amy

"Where it all Began"
So, this is where my Viking and I first met, while we were standing in line at this ticket desk for five hours, waiting to be rebooked on flights home after ours was canceled. I snapped this when i was at the airport yesterday, on my way to Riga.

05/13/2011 - Amy

"Modern Architecture"
I had spent the whole day teaching modern architecture, so on my way home I thought it would be appropriate to snap a PAD of some of it from campus.

05/14/11 - Lori

TEETH
I am so glad I cannot remember mine coming in

05/13/11 - Lori

Friday Night Fire

05/12/11 - Lori

I have ideas all the time for themes, so far I've not followed through with any - I doubt this one will stick, either - but my latest idea is photos taken at stop lights.

05/11/11 - Lori

I thought I already added this post, it's gone, so here it is again ..

05/13/11 - Paul


Claire & Jason

05/12/11 - Paul


Anne, Tim, and Bear

05/12/2011 - Amy

"At the end, there is a rainbow"
When I was leaving the office on Thursday, Viking said to me 'you might want to get your camera out, there's a rainbow outside.' Firstly, I was excited at how well he knows me, and knew that I'd want to photograph it. Secondly, I remembered a photo I took almost two years ago, of a rainbow on the beach here in Aberdeen. It was my first summer here, and I was incredibly depressed. I was having a difficult time adjusting to my new place, and hadn't yet found my footing. I went around Aberdeen taking pictures and, as usual, it reinvigorated me. I posted the pictures on facebook, and gave the album the same title as the title of this entry. I think in some ways it was a symbol of hope for me, and somehow, I knew that things would get better. Now, looking back on two years ago, I smile at just how far I've come. Rainbow, indeed!

05/11/2011 - Amy

"Summer Sun"
The sky was doing amazing things today. I took a bunch of pictures of these clouds, and then caught this reflection of them in Minnie's back window :)

05/10/11 - Paul


Mt. St. Helens