I don't like my profile information anymore, so I'm changing it. I'm dumping a bunch of info here instead. Thanks to almariel and hesterprynne02 for the idea.

Me: I'm Jyll. That's not the only thing people call me. I'm a PhD student (technically, MPhil with a view to transfer to the PhD...but, they'll get me through if it kills them now that I'm accepted) at the University of Aberdeen. I'm an elder for my church, which, yes is oxymoronic, since I'm 28. I sing in the chapel choir at the university as a way to defuse stress. I also sing plainchant/Gregorian chant for the Sunday evening Mass at the University. I'm out of shape (thanks, hypothyroidism!), and look moreso because of my double chin. I've naturally red hair that is going white at an alarming rate. I dye my hair back to the colour it was when I was younger. I have blue eyes and I'm 5'9" and freaking love towering over people. :)


Tom, aka ybunny and the furry kids: I am currently taken and extraordinarily happy about it. I make no excuses for occasional gushing about my fiance my husband. We live in a cosy flat in the city centre of Aberdeen with two kitties. The girl is black and white and mostly answers to Caiomhe. The boy is ginger and does answer to Sean Seamus. Caoimhe is definitely Tom's cat and shuns me. Sean Seamus only loves me because I give him the occasional nip of cheese.


Family & Friends: I have lots of close friends that I connect to through LiveJournal and I've got family as well: drjoan (mother), drtaylor (father), gramj (grandmother), redthought (sister), golfbisquit (brother), aberquine (mother-in-law), kiltmir (brother-in-law), patch_mom (aunt) and murphys_law/xdemonangelx (cousins). I'm really close friends with shineyquarter. We proved our relationship in a trial by fire, living together after having lived on our own. My in-laws live in Aberdeen. The non-livejournalers: My MiL is from Aberdeen, my FiL is from Surrey. My BiL and his girlfriend live in Leeds. Our extended family includes friends, that I refer to as A&C, and their kids, of which the middle one is my goddaughter.

Background: I have no job just now, but I've had loads in the past. (Mostly student jobs, but hey...) I hope to one day teach Greek.

I am a cancer survivor. I had my thyroid removed because of that. Since then, I've become a lifetime member of the thyroid hormone replacement club. I have had to do reams and reams of research on hypothyroidism. I am absolutely incensed at the apathetic level of care given to people with chronic, non-urgent problems that may adversely affect their ability to function.

I graduated from Southern Adventist University with a Bachelor's Degree in Archaeology as a Southern Scholar (sort of like Hons, but not...). This means I'm dangerously over-informed on many historical subjects.

I've taken voice lessons since I was 12. I have an inferiority complex about my voice. It's actually a very strong mezzo-soprano and I've received awards, some monetary, for it, as well as sung on national tv (US). That inferiority thing? Makes me cringe just to have written that.

My parents believed in spoiling us with travel opportunities when I was younger. We had visited all 48 contiguous states in America by the time I was 15 and 6 European countries by 17. We'd also visited Central America, Canada and Mexico by then as well.
I travelled to Greece to do my archaeological field experience at 19. At 20, I toured the British Isles with my siblings. At 21, I went to Egypt and Jordan. While I've traveled quite a bit since then, I've not added any new countries. I'm working on it. :)

What's with 'bisquit'?: My bisquits are the people that I love like family. The people I call when things are going wrong. The people I can let my gut out in front of. It's like a sibling relationship, but I don't leave it at that because some people aren't terribly close to their siblings. I, however, definitely am.

General Topics found here: I post on Fridays about food. I try to do it every Friday, but I am made of fail. I post occasionally on Sundays about chapel choir and what we've sung during services. This year, I'm posting a lot about the books I've read since I made a resolution to read 100 that were unrelated to me course work. I post snippets of conversation I find funny. As I get better about it, I post pictures to Flickr of various trips and of interesting things in Aberdeen.

To quote almariel, OMG!SCOTLAND: I live in Scotland. I've been in Aberdeen since 4 August 2005. I'm currently here on the two year, trial bride visa. (Technically called 'Limited Leave to Remain'.) After the two years are up, I can begin applying for citizenship. I love Scotland. Truly, and I love Aberdeen. While I do enjoy other parts, this part really suits me. I fear I'll never have the accent down (well, I can do a mild Perth accent) but Scottisms have crept into my vocabulary over time. I fear that Americans have an obsession with creating a Scottish lineage, but I genuinely have one. I find it amusing to think that my relatives may have been desperate to get out, and I'm desparate to get in. There are many things that are OMG! great about Scotland and others that are OMFG! crazy about Scotland. Unfortunately, I didn't post about the differences as much as I should have when I first moved here, and now most of the differences don't strike me very hard.

The rules: This is a pretty typical journal. I'm full of mistakes and good intentions. This journal isn't even remotely a full representation of my life. But, then again...whose is? If you think I've said something you don't like, remember that the entry is fleeting, just like life. That's what the scroll button is for. Or what the 'remove' button is for, for that matter.
Friending Policy: I friend back indescriminately. When I have time, I read everything. When I don't, I only read entries from my family. I filter mostly for security reasons (entries dealing with my goddaughter, those are just friends locked instead of public). The only true filter is for religious discussion. You get every thing else. I do have a quick note about commenting.