Well, this will be more of a photo diary with some oh some essential points that I thought I would share my adventure heading up Arthur's Seat the other weekend.

First off Arthur's Seat is an ancient volcano that provides the BEST views of the city! There is also the ruins of  St Anthony's Chapel, a 15th-century medieval chapel.

The hike itself is not that bad, we went up on a day with clear blue skies and the sun beating down on us! Needless to say, it was nothing like the typical Scottish weather that we are used to.


As for the hike, there are 4 ways to get up to the top ( a better idea of the routes can be found here).

When we decided to hike up, we, unfortunately, went mid-day and on a day that the top was filled with people. So Tip #1 GO EARLY, especially if you want some decent pictures at the top!

Like I said the place was filled with people making a photo impossible to take at the top!

We also decided that we would take a different way down to get a view of what all we missed on the way up! So if you can Tip #2 Take 2 routes, one on your way up and one on your way down! 

The ruins of  St Anthony's Chapel, a 15th-century medieval chapel.

Tip # 3 Pack a lunch and enjoy the view from the top! Seriously when the weather is terrific, you should enjoy it to the max, plus the views at the top are AMAZING

View of the Castle

The Palace and the Parliament Building

Lastly, make sure to enjoy an ice-cream when you get down to the bottom, there is always a convenient ice-cream truck there!

Finally stepping back into the world of blogging and writing on a daily basis has inspired me to reevaluate the information that I share here. One of the first things that I looked into when I was accepted to do my PhD in Scotland was trying to figure out how much it would all cost.
So here it is a breakdown of what I have spent my time living here! If there are any questions relating to anything that I may have missed just let me know!

Housing:

Rent: 

When I first moved here I lived in a flat leased student house, it was close to the city centre (10 minutes bus or 15ish minutes walking) and right on the bus route going to Uni. I shared the house with 3 other girls, which helped me really get to know the city/university life! Total rent per month was £ 300. I know live in a 1 bedroom flat somewhat close to my old flat. In total, our rent is £ 575 a month.

Gas/Electric: 

Back in the shared flat on average our gas and electric/gas bill was about £ 25-30 a month (note this is my cut of the bill, not the whole thing). Now living in the one bedroom flat, we pay  £ 60 a month all year which will then be adjusted accordingly at the end of the year. 

Internet:

Again back in the shared flat my portion of the internet was only  £5 a month for very semi-decent internet. We went with a cheap company and got what we paid for! Now we spend quite a bit more in our own flat  £ 28 a month, but this gives us the best internet that we could get. For example, I can stream Netflix while the BF plays LOL and we have no issues!

Council Tax:

Transportation:

Bus Pass: 

The city is very easy to get around via public transit, so having a bus pass especially during the colder months is a necessity. A one-month student bus pass is currently  £ 45 a month (adult cards are  £ 50 a month). On the other hand, you can stick with buying single tickets at  £ 1.60 or a day pass at  £ 4. 

Bike:

A new purchase to enjoy the sunny days that we have recently had in Scotland. A used bike cost anywhere from  £ 80 -  £ 300. I went with a used bike that cost  £ 120  and has been riding it to and from work along with other places around the city! Of course, I would recommend spending some extra money on accessories (helmet, bike lock, bike basket, bike lights, and some basic repair kits) which will cost about  £ 30-70 in total depending on how fancy you go!

Food:

Groceries per week:

When living on my own and eating very basic meals, I could get away with only spending  £ 30-50 a month on groceries. Again that was eating lots of cereal, pasta, and sandwiches. Now living with the BF we have been trying to eat better, lots of fresh veggies, fruit and fish! On average our weekly grocery bill is about  £ 45-60, this includes food for an actually cooked breakfast, packed lunches, snacks and a real dinner! 

Cost for a meal out:

The BF and I love a good dinner out. On average, a brunch will cost us  £ 20 including a fancy coffee for myself and a tip (we always head to our favourite spot, and the waiters are amazing). A lunch out without beers runs us at  £ 15ish, while lunch with both of us getting a beer cost us  £ 25. As for dinner you can expect to pay anywhere from  £ 15-25 per person for a nice sit-down meal. 

Cost for drinks out:

Again being a college student at heart I love meeting up for a quick drink. A pint of beer will cost just about  £ 3, while my favourite cider in a bottle runs  £ 3.50 and if you fancy a cocktail depending on where you head to it will cost anywhere from  £ 5-10. 

Phone Services:

The BF and I just switched to a year-long sim only plan with unlimited data and the ability to use the phone abroad in total cost us £20 each. Before this, I was on a pay as you go plan costing £10 per month which gave me 2GB of data and unlimited text. 

Beauty Services:

Hair Cut:

For the basic wash, cut and style it cost  £ 30,  while the BF gets his hair cut for  £ 8 at a fantastic barber right around the corner from our flat. 

Eyebrow Tint and Thread: 

One of the only maintenance things I am consistent about, costing a total of  £ 14.

Health Insurance:

What the heck it been a year since I've thought about posting. A year since I thought about the need to continually share/comment and be active on blog social media.



I stopped writing here because Scotland and my PhD weren't everything that I had hoped for. Being here alone made me miss and desire things that Edinburgh and my PhD wasn't providing.

Stepping away from this for a year and the constant reminder of being a 'Grad student exploring NC to Scotland' helped me to reevaluate. Well, in all honesty, the reevaluation was a recent development.

Things are starting to get a bit better in my PhD life, I'll write on that later. Things in my personal life are better now with the BF here. I am working on just getting better in general, from my health to my head, I needed a wake-up!

Scotland was supposed to be this dream of a lifetime, a PhD project that was going to be badass and a chance for me to explore, grow and figure shit out. After 16 months here I am finally getting around to all of those things. Hints the new blog start, the refresh, the saying 'Hello' after a year of nothing!


So welcome back to ChemGradBoom, if anyone still remembers the blog!

I hope you stick around to see the new CGB, the new travel adventures, the new PhD madness and all that I have to offer!

Moving to Edinburgh meant that I would now be in Long Distance Relationship (LDR) for the 4th time since I have been with the BF. Since we met when he was in the Army, there was the year-long deployment followed up by my 6-month move to Indianapolis.

We met when I just turned 18 and was about to head off to college, with myself having no interest in ever dating an Army guy I met the tall guy who got a turkey with me in bowling. Little did I know that after meeting him, my no dating Army guys rule changed and almost 7 years later I am still stuck with the tall guy.

To be honest, when we said to goodbye to each other as he deployed after knowing each other for a little less than a year and dating for about 4 months I didn't see where the relationship would go. I was 18 in college and saying goodbye to a guy that was absolutely fantastic but still I was saying goodbye for a year. The deployment made our relationship what it is today, and while 18 years old me had no idea that we would stay together, today I look at that year as something that has made all the other LDR moments easier.





To start LDRs make you really learn to communicate. While the communication aspect was a little tricky when he was deployed we relied on the random phone calls, sometimes Skype, lots of Facebook messages and a journal for each of us that we sent back and forth every month or so. I learned how to actually listen and realise when he was in a lousy mood, exhausted, or needed just to talk. I also figured out that while he may have been 5,000 miles away in a war zone, he was still there to hear about the things that I would tell him if he was there next to me.



The next thing that I think we have managed to take from every moment of our LDR is to appreciate the moments that we do have together. When the BF came home for R&R during deployment, we managed to have a jet-ski incident leaving me with 15ish stitches in my nose along with some severe bruising. Every bone in me wanted to stay out of the public because I looked terrible, yet I knew that in 1 week the BF would be back to Iraq. So instead of staying in and ruining the last week together, we still went out and did all the things that we planned on. While I did get some terrible stares, we enjoyed every awkward moment of that week and am glad that the BF stuck with me even with the bruised face and messed up nose.



The last thing that I realised from being in an LDR is that having a life outside of being the relationship makes things much better. I have seen couples who seem to only be happy when they are together, they are always the people sucking face on nights out with friends, they are the ones who bail to spend time in bed with each other rather than celebrate a birthday with friends. While there is nothing wrong with loving to spend time with each other, you have to have a life outside of being a couple. I love having the BF with me and yes I would prefer to have him with me all the time, but I realised that to be happy you have to have a balance.



In the end, I know that an LDR is hard, it is filled with moments of doubts, tears, happy moments that make your face hurt from smiling so much, and a person who you can spend 365 days apart for the one day that you are back together.

If you have/are in an LDR what are some things that it has taught you? I would love to hear what you think about being in an LDR!

Moving to Scotland and starting my PhD program is much different than I imagined how my PhD would go. To start things off my advisor week one told me to 'relax and get settled' meaning that Week One of school I aimlessly wandered around or on cold days binged on Netflix. Then there is Week Two, the week we were supposed to meet, but thanks to an old roomie from the IMA in London, I made a quick trip to visit! Meaning two weeks into my PhD and still nothing! Finally Week Three came, and I finally met my advisor/supervisor and my secondary supervisor, fears about this meeting deserve a whole other blog post. After the meeting, I was handed some readings and told that research would be done when the weather is nicer. This meant that my only assignments were to read, read, and read some more. Know I love the being in a lab/doing the research, the other aspects aka the reading nonstop, not really my thing. 

Unfortunately  Year One of a PhD student = Lots of Reading..... 

With this new life of nonstop reading and taking in the knowledge, I have had to learn to trick myself into getting shit done. Which is why I have figured out 5 Tips that keep me motivated to read on or just do work in general. 

1. set a goal for the day/hour/30 minutes. 

Yes, 30 minutes... Working towards an end goal is much easier than just working. So an example of this is saying I will read one chapter and take notes in 3o minutes. I then move on to tip 2. 

2. REWARD YOURSELF. 

With a piece of chocolate, a coffee, a new Kate Spade bag, whatever... Of course, the reward size should be based on the amount of work you do. For me I say reading one chapter means I get 15 minutes free time, reading three chapters is one episode on Netflix. Finishing year one will be a Kate Spade bag or a trip, probably both being honest. 

3. blast your favourite playlist or have your favourite show/movie on. 

#1989 seems to be my jam lately, and I have it on repeat when I need to focus and get work done (no lie listening to it RIGHT now as I am writing this post #getblogpostdone). Sometimes I fall back to my Harry Potter marathon, which means I can crank out 4-5 solid hours of work without distractions.

4.work in a group.

One advantage to living with undergrad chemistry students in Scotland is the amount of work that they have, which means group work-together happen in the living room at least twice a week. Telling each other to get shit done is much easier when there are multiple eyes to catch you not being productive. 

5.get out and do work.

Lastly, head out and do work. This could also be a reward for one full day of working at home. I personally love to head out to a coffee shop and do work, of course, it is one with free wi-fi. Not only is getting out to a new environment mentally stimulating, but it also gets you out of your typical anti-work habits (aka laying in a cosy bed and watching Netflix #alldaylong).  Well, there it is, the list of 5 things that have been helping me to be a productive PhD student or at least a semi-productive PhD student! Now that I have this blog post done, I am off to read another chapter about historic window glass! 

Any tips that you have for staying productive? I would love to get advice that others use!