Delights and Shadows

His

April 12, 2008

We've Moved

Hi Everyone - the new blog is ready at last! Please update your bookmarks to the following address: http://web.mac.com/jandbmoon
...And come see us soon!

| By j and b | 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

Stay tuned...

Well, here we are, in snowy and freezing Minnesota. 10 inches of snow over Easter weekend. More snow in the last two weeks than I've seen in my lifetime. HELLO!
I'm just ducking in to say we're working on a new blog - created on Josh's pride and joy...his Mac.
So, for now, know that we are safe and well and enjoying this new world of casseroles and strange accents.

| By j and b | 08:49 PM | Comments (4)

January 22, 2008

We're Still Alive...

Hi folks - sorry for being m.i.a. the last month. Has it really been a month since we packed up our lives and moved across the Pond back to the good ol' US of A? A month tomorrow we landed in Seattle and life has been a whirl of activity ever since.
Josh and I calculated today that between returning from Scotland, three trips to Minnesota, one to New York and one to Atlanta we will have covered some 40,000 miles of air time within 6 weeks. All that recycled air is probably wreaking havoc on our brain cells.
But, the good news is that the big question we were facing one month ago has now been answered. Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, has asked Josh to be their minister and he has accepted. We're going to be Minnesotans...
We are excited about this next step - about the church and about getting to know the Twin Cities area. We are finally doing what we have planned and trained to do for six and a half years.
So, another few weeks in Tacoma and then we head to Las Cruces to spend some time with J's family. We'll pack up the stuff that's stored in Cruces and then drive up to St Louis where the rest of our stuff is, gather that and then drive up to Minneapolis. Doesn't that sound like fun?
But for now, I have a trip to NYC to look forward to. My sister is performing her masters recital at the end of the month and I get to go!!! It's so nice to finally be in the same country as my family...

| By j and b | 12:30 AM | Comments (7)

December 15, 2007

Passed!

That's Dr. Moon to you, thank you very much. It's all done and dusted, as the Brits say. Only a few typos to fix and it's ready to be printed, bound, and given to that depository of wisdom called "the special collections room" in the library, there to sit quietly gathering dust until the next unsuspecting passerby with an interest in Jeremiah 31. Poor soul.
The viva (oral defence) went well. As soon as I walked in they told me I had passed so that all the questions they had for me would be understood in that context. After an hour's conversation they asked if we could go out for coffee and discuss things further outside of the context of a viva, and we had an amicable "cuppa" with advice for future publishing, talk about future plans, and the two readers were able to get to know each other a bit better. I was just trying to play it cool the whole time and not betray how relieved and happy I was.
So now the celebrations begin... except "celebrating" means having about 2 days to get the whole house ready for being shipped back to the States. But to be honest, that's not going to put a dent in my smile, even the morning after.

| By j and b | 09:26 AM | Comments (10)

December 12, 2007

Two Weeks and Counting

Our poor lonely little blog has had very little to offer the last few weeks. We keep thinking of things to post but haven't found a second to post them! Life is just so busy.
First things first, here are some pics of our recent happenings. Because of the way flickr works the order is reversed so it starts with a celebration of St Nicholas' day and ends with our trip to the Lake District with Brad and Abi (a wonderful last getaway - we'll miss you guys so much!).
Other updates? How about some highlights...
1) Yesterday was my last day of work...can you believe it? Two years and a couple weeks ago I started at the University - it's been a wild ride. I'm so glad to set my face to the future and am already thinking of all those things I will do now that I have the time.
2) But first we have a move across the Pond to navigate: shippers, suitcases, Christmas gifts, packing, goodbyes and lots of tiny decisions (do I REALLY want to pay to ship AND insure that CD of Sinatra singing carols?). Our flight leaves on the 21st.
3) And, in the middle of all of that Josh defends on Friday at 2pm. If you think of it please pray for him. It's rather grueling - you defend for 2 hours or so and then you leave the room and wait. When they are ready they call you back in and tell you your fate. Yikes!
Unfortunately all this busyness means no Christmas correspondence from the Moons this year! Perhaps we'll send a Happy middle of February letter out to everyone to give the update on where we will settle...once all that has been decided.
And, some of you dear wonderful people have been asking where to send Christmas cards - even though you're guessing you won't be hearing from us! If you wouldn't mind emailing me I'll send you my parents' address where we'll be for Christmas.
Isn't that wonderful? My family is waiting on the other end - that's the best feeling in all of this change!

| By j and b | 09:26 AM | Comments (4)

November 08, 2007

Autumn Moments

It's Autumn in St Andrews which means darkness. The sun goes down earlier and earlier and one of these days it will be dark soon after 4. I don't mind - it makes me feel cozy. Coziness is appreciated during these days when the winds of change are blowing cold and fast through our lives.
We're loving cherry pork roast, root vegetables and a GREAT lentil soup recipe Vange gave me the other day. And it's fun to share these yummy flavours with friends around a table.
For now, we're not thinking about decisions or the future - we're looking forward to a long holiday weekend with Brad and Abi. It's about time for a break and they're the perfect ones for the occasion. Stay tuned for a report on our trip to the Lake District. We've wanted to go ever since we moved to the UK...I'm thinking some long walks, some long reads and some good chats. Just what the doctor ordered!
By the way, we bought our tickets back to the States. And just for the record, they were one-way...who can believe it?

| By j and b | 07:15 PM | Comments (3)

Hers