Just A Monday In Ireland

January 26, 2015 Monday

I did not want to get out of bed this morning.  I was super exhausted.  I think the past few weeks caught up with me and I had just had enough.  I have been debating whether or not to take this finance class because the teacher has a super thick Irish accent and that makes comprehension difficult, especially since I don’t know the subject very well.  And basically, when the alarm went off this morning and I was warm in bed and I was exhausted and it was early and I had my finance class next, I decided I am definitely dropping the class, and I went back to sleep!  Yahoo!  Haha.  So I slept in this morning and then got up and got ready and headed into the city for classes this afternoon!  I got to chat with my mom for a little while today!  That was fun, of course.  Love chatting with her and appreciate her so much for being in my life.  Love her!  

Irish cultural studies class was hilarious today.  Our professor is so crazy.  He is quite a wild guy and swears a lot and invites us students to come have a pint with him after class.  He’s wild!  But hilarious!  

I also got to chat with Sarah by e-mail today also and that was the best!  I got home about 7 pm tonight and got to have dinner with Nikki and Maria, which is always nice.  And we had a little family home evening lesson and then watched the movie Divergent!  Good movie.  I really am so thankful for Nikki and Maria.  They are going to teach me a lot these next few months.  They are both at such unique stages in their lives and have both been through a lot and as I look at their lives and watch them, I am learning a lot.  It’s good for me.  I'm so thankful.  

Gratitude For The Gospel

January 25, 2015 – Sunday

I am seriously so thankful for the Gospel in my life.  I can’t express my feelings in words well enough.  It’s the most precious and amazing gift I have in my life.  The comfort, the guidance, the safety, the security that it provides is something that I am beyond thankful for in my life.  I wouldn't be the person that I am, day in and day out, without the knowledge that I have.  Without the relationship that I have with my God and my Savior.  It’s an incredible thing.  And being here in Ireland I have been reminded time and time and time and time again, day in and day out, over and over, in so many ways, how truly precious the Gospel really is to me.  It’s my safety in this life.  It’s my compass that guides me and leads me every step of the way.  I’m thankful beyond words for the Gospel and what it has done for my life.  In church today we had a lesson on the creation.  Simple, but so incredible.  And I was reminded that I have a purpose here on earth.  God has things for me to do and accomplish and I have a place and a purpose and by fulfilling that I can show my gratitude to my Father for all He has given me and for this beautiful world that I live in.  Being here in Ireland, surrounded by such gorgeous scenery all the time, makes me feel so close to my Father because I am reminded how blessed I am and reminded of God’s great glory and power to create something so beautiful, just for us to enjoy.  Just for us to find peace and comfort in.  It’s amazing.  

I love my ward so much!  The people there are so loving and caring in the most amazing way possible.  I love every single person that I meet in my ward.  They are a great ward family that I am beyond thankful to have in my life right now.  

Guinness Storehouse & Celtic Women Concert

January 24, 2015 – Saturday

Today I got some rest.  Yahoo!  I slept great last night and got up about mid-morning today.  I met up with Soes and Jacob at noon today and we went to the Guinness Storehouse.  Yep.  The good old beer making factory here in Dublin!  It is huge!  They have a little museum sort of thing set up and so we walked around that for a couple hours and then went up to the top floor where they have a 360 view of Dublin!  It was beautiful.  I enjoyed a nice glass of lemonade!  Yum!  After the storehouse we went to the grocery store and picked up some food for lunch and then went back to Jacob’s place and ate sandwiches and had some chocolate for lunch and just chatted. 

Soes I went to the Celtic Women concert tonight!  We had the most amazing experience ever!  So we got there about an hour early and found our seats.  They were terrible to be honest.  We of course had gotten the cheapest we could find and they were on the very edge of the stage, in the back and you couldn't even see the back half of the stage.  They were bad.  But we kept a good attitude about it and went and walked around.  We eventually wandered back to our seats and sat down.  Still about an hour until show time.  Then this guy walks up who works for the 3 Arena venue.  And he asks the two girls behind us if they want better seats and then looks at Soes and I and asks if we want to come as well.  So he gives us tickets right in the middle of the audience!  Best seats ever!  And then gives us access to the VIP lounge!  What!?  It was awesome.  I’ve never had anything like that ever happen before.  So we went up to the VIP lounge and got chatting with the two girls.  They are going to school on exchange in Cork and are from the states.  So cool!  We stayed up there for about 45 minutes and talked and then we went back down to our seats and enjoyed the most amazing show ever!  It was beautiful!  I loved it!  Such a great night!  

Storehouse

Storehouse

360 View

360 View

Me & Soes

3 Arena where Celtic Women Concert wat

VIP Pass!

VIP Lounge

Amazing Grace

Bagpipes

Danny Boy

Gaelic Language

Dancing

You Raise Me Up

Northern Ireland

January 23, 2015 – Friday

Today I went to Northern Ireland with my friend Stephen!  Adventure time!  Oh yea! So excited.  So very excited.  Stephen had the day off work and wanted to go on an adventure and so he invited me to come with him to Northern Ireland.  Such a great friend!  So, today was a great day.  We saw some gorgeous stuff.  

So our adventures of the day included so many amazing things.  We stopped at a petrol (gas) station about an hour outside of Dublin and got some hot chocolate and spent some time writing letters to Sarah to put in her package and then we found a post office and shipped it away!  Yay!  I’m so excited for her to get it.  She is going to love it so much!  

Package for Sarah!  From Ireland.

Writing Sarah A Letter

Writing Sarah A Letter

Then we drove a couple more hours and ended up at the Spelga Dam.  It was a gorgeous view and SO COLD!  I haven’t even been that shockingly cold in my life.  The mist from the water and the wind.  It was a crazy combination.  It was beautiful though!  So pretty.  

We then spent a few hours in Tollymore Forest Park and did some hiking!  The scenery here was incredible.  It’s so green and beautiful.  It was a great hike!  We had a good time.  There were some beautiful bridges and a little river and some cool tunnels.  I took TONS of pictures!

Bloody Bridge on Mourne Coastal was our next stop!  This was one of my favorite places.  We were supposed to be able to stand under the bridge and walk through it, but the water level was so high that there was no way we were going to make it through without drowning. So instead we took some time and just sat on the rocks on the coast and enjoyed the incredible beauty.  It was beyond beautiful.  Another one of those spiritual moments where I felt so much peace and gratitude to be here in Ireland.  It was incredible!  I loved it so much!  

So many cameras!  Haha.  I LOVE taking photos!  Who wouldn't with that scenery?

We then made out way to Belfast and had dinner at a super yummy restaurant.  It was a buffet line with food from all over the world! So a ton of variety. It was really great.  Stephen has come to it on four different occasions and never could get in, but today we waited ten minutes and got a seat!  Lucky us!  

We then drove about 2 hours out to Longford and visited with Stephen’s friend Dave and his girlfriend Emma.  They were so nice and super Irish!  It was so great to be in their home and listen to their accents.  It was a blast.  We left their place after a couple hours and drove back to Dublin!  I fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I was exhausted.  We got home at 3 am in the morning!  Wahoo!  Crazy long day.  But so much fun and so worth it!  

The Blue Dot Was Us Today!