After a few busy weeks of visitors and events going on here in Ireland, I'm feeling glad to settle back down into my normal schedule.  I said goodbye to Leah and Jenn at 4:30am on Thursday, then spent the rest of the day cleaning the house before heading to basketball.  Friday was spent preparing for Bible study with the twins and Sarah.  Though I was dragging a bit, it was a fun time hanging out and discussing what it looks like to "conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel."  Big ideas coming from 13-14 year olds :)

Saturday was a first for me in Ireland...I ran into a friend at the mall!  It was a rainy, dreary day, so to fight the gloom I went to grab some coffee and spend a gift card at Liffey Valley.  While walking around I received a text from a friend who happened to be in the very same store!  We ended up chatting over coffee for the last few minutes before everything closed (the mall closes at 7pm every night but Thursday).  As we were leaving, I accepted an invite to join her family for Chinese. YAY! 

Today was a great day at Ballycullen Community Church.  During the past year or so, our church has  transitioned from a church-plant of Grosvenor Road Baptist Church to a self-sustaining church, and with that transition comes the task of electing a pastor.  The search began before I arrived and has had its ups and downs.  One of the many events during the past few weeks was a weekend spent "interviewing" a prospective pastor and his wife.  The Lord answered our prayers with the announcement today that the couple we met in July and just interviewed had accepted the position!

This coming week proves to be just a normal but busy one with Mums and Toddlers, school, basketball, Jr. Tribes, my first Irish haircut and more.  Thanks for taking time to keep up with me and what's going on over the ocean :)  Your thoughts, notes and prayers are so wonderful!

This has been the theme of my weekend :)  Two of my dear friends came to visit me from Nepal...Leah and Jenn!  We met two years ago at some classes in Pennsylvania and found that we only lived about 90 miles away from each other in Tennessee.  Since meeting and all moving away, we have remained close friends, and so our reunion was so great when I picked them up at the airport on Friday morning (way before the sun came up)!

Friday I had the task of keeping them awake until evening so they could adjust to the time change, so we walked all over Dublin...of course with a necessary stop at Starbucks.  We also had to make a quick stop at the store for gloves and hats...(I told you it was freezing here!)

Saturday we visited Kilkenny.  This has quickly become one of my favourite towns near Dublin.  They enjoyed their first tour of a European castle!  Then we went for coffee before heading home.  So much talking and laughing along the way...such an encouragement.  Still several more days to their visit, so more fun to come!

Pictured below...
top:  Leah and me in Dublin
bottom: Jenn and me in Kilkenny

Have you ever mentally "rehearsed" how an event or conversation would go only to have reality kick in and bring you back to the planet Earth?  That happened to me this week...

Several of you MAY remember me talking about seeing this cafe in 2006 when I made my first visit to Ireland.  I looked for it when I returned this past January, but never found it.  Well, the other day, I googled it and actually found it on the map!  Monday I set out to find it so I could catch up on reading for my class while drinking some coffee.  Somehow I ended up day-dreaming about my day at the cafe...here's how it went!

I imagined myself enjoying a leisurely bus trip into town listening to my Ipod.  Then after arriving at my stop, I walked to Stephanie's Cafe which happened to be situated on the coolest street in City Centre.  There were shops and outdoor produce vendors all along the way.  I arrived at the slightly aged building that had been converted into the quaint little cafe.  Tables were neatly arranged and beautiful flowers were placed in the centre of each.  Sort of a cross between The Cupcakery and Starbucks.

I imagined a sweet Irish lady named Stephanie (of course) working behind the pastry counter and several other girls busy serving the other patrons.   It smelled of espresso and baked goods.  Before being seated, I was warmly welcomed and then struck up a friendly conversation with the owner.  The fact that my name was also Stephanie, of course, procured me a free latte which I enjoyed while reading for a couple of hours.  And since the latte was free, I bought a delicious pastry.  I left with a promise to return soon and enjoy another delightful day!

So here's what really happened...
The bus trip was pretty peaceful and I did enjoy some music on my Ipod, but that's about where the similarity ended.  After getting off the bus at the stop closest to the cafe, I began to walk...and walk...and walk.  Yeah, it was a bit further off the bus route than I figured.  It wasn't a bad part of town at all, but nothing really notable about it either. 

I walked for several blocks and finally found my destination!  The building was a bit old but on the inside it looked more like and Italian bistro than a cafe.  I was greeted by two eastern European guys who were running the place.  (I don't think either of them were named Stephanie.)  So I sat down and began reading the menu, which had a typo on the cover :)  I decided on some pasta and a coffee.  Both were good and reasonably priced.  I happened to notice, though, while eating that only one other woman entered the cafe the entire time I was there, the rest were guys.  I had a moment of wondering if I had somehow stumbled upon a "Guy's Only" restaurant, but no one told me to leave, so I stayed.  I never did have a chat with the owner, other than to tell him it wasn't necessary to close the front door because the cold air didn't bother me at all.   After reading an entire chapter, eating lunch, and turning down a date from a guy who had clearly already had too much to drink...I went on my way!

All in all, it was a reasonably NORMAL event, but I laughed at myself as I remembered how much more romantic my day-dream had been compared to reality!

So today I headed up North for a day with some of my teammates and a friend from church.  Our destination was a place called "Giant's Causeway."  If you haven't heard of this place, I have to tell you, it's one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life! 

Long story short, due to some volcanic eruptions and then the Flood from Genesis, this landmark is covered with thousands of hexagonal pillars of rock.  I saw it today, and I'm still amazed!  (You can get a better explanation from the "Answers in Genesis" website.) Again, I stand amazed at my God who created the world and left us with such beautiful things to see...just because He wants to!

I took a ton of photos :)  Click the photo tab above to see the rest...and YES we did walk up those steps on the side of the mountain!

Well, here's a fun photo :)  Recently I was asked to start a bible study for the Jr. High girls at my church.  I eagerly agreed, and we met for the first time this past Friday evening at my place.  As you may be able to tell from this photo, my bible study consists of four sweet girls...who make up two sets of twins!  I like this arrangement because it only requires me to remember two different birthdays. 

Our first night was pretty casual.  We enjoyed laughing and talking while eating homemade pizzas.  It was a nice chance to hear about what goes on in the lives of Irish 13-14 year-olds, and oddly enough we ended up talking about some of our most embarrassing moments.  

We will be meeting every other Friday night to study Philippians together.  So pray that the Lord helps us to learn the many lessons waiting to be discovered like, "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" or "do everything without complaining or arguing."  Good reminders no matter how old we get!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post!  I've had a busy (but fun) past week.  I spent the week living at the Jones' house to help Andrea out while Mark made a visit to the States.  My days were spent hanging out with Grant (9), Luke (7), Aislinn (2), and baby Kate (3 mo.) in various combinations.  Andrea and I also had plenty of chats over coffee during nap times and in the evenings after all had gone to bed.  We even were able to watch a DVD one night while the house was all quiet!

I had a great time building friendships while playing Guess Who? and  Candyland, or watching "The Ant Bully".  Aislinn, the two-year old, introduced me to a new game called "Bees."  (At least that's what she called it...I don't even know the official name!)  I think I played this game about 10 times during the week.  The object was to get the SMALLEST number of bees, but this was a hard concept to explain to a little girl who got so excited each time she collected more.  Oh well, it was fun!

So after a week of living on the north side of Dublin, which I loved by the way, I moved back home and spent the weekend cleaning, vacuuming and such to get my house back in order!  All the food in my fridge was moldy due to my absence, so I also had to make a quick trip to the store.   Now I'm all settled back in my flat in Ballycullen, and get this, I even washed my car today!  (Those who know me best will know what a phenomenon this is.  I never washed my old car even once, but that was mostly due to a fear that the REST of the paint would fall off in the process :)

Ok, so it's been SEVERAL years since I have darkened the doors of a public library.  This is mostly because I'm somewhat of a "library-fugitive" back in Tennessee.  Long story surrounding an $80 fine for a book on CASSETTE that I returned in 2001, but they have no record of it.  I'm probably on a "10 Most Wanted" list at the Lawson McGhee.

Since I've been doing a lot of reading with all the bus trips and such, I decided to join the local library here in Tallaght.  I have to say, it was the most amazing experience I have ever had at a library.  First of all, they have much more than books there.  From the rows and rows of CD's and DVD's (new stuff too...not just from the 1940's) to beginning Polish lessons, it's a different world than I remember.  They even have a website for downloading audio books to your MP3 player, and your library card acts as a debit card for library fines and printing fees. 

After wandering around in awe for an hour, I made my few selections...three books, a CD and a DVD.  I took them to the counter to check them out and was surprisingly redirected to a "self-checkout" desk.  As I followed the instructions, I stood there dumbfounded!  I inserted my library card and laid my stack of books (etc.) on the counter, and then just watched as the computer began listing each item on the screen.  I didn't have to scan anything!  It knew what I had!   Then before I knew it, a receipt printed thanking me for visiting and telling me what day all my stuff needed to be returned.  I think I closed my dropped jaw sometime before I got back to my car...

If you've spoken to me in the last few days, you've heard that it's been quite rainy and gloomy for several days.  Yesterday I attended orientation at IBI (Irish Bible Institute) for my class that starts on the 17th.  I caught the 8:30 AM bus into town with Sarah and due to the rain we arrived at class almost 2 hours later...completely soaked :)   It was so crazy that I just had to laugh and remind myself that I'd dry out eventually.

Today has been another rainy day, so after grabbing my raincoat, I hopped in the car to check a couple of thrift stores for a kitchen table before prayer meeting tonight.  While driving home, I was reminded of God's promises when there was a HUGE rainbow over my apartment complex.  Due to the rain, I see this rainbow about once a week and it always makes me smile because when you think about it...what is a rainbow?  I know the scientific explanation, but God said He created it solely to remind us of one of His many promises!  I love it!

God also promises that He hears us when we talk to Him.  This week I have been spending lots of time asking Him to help me find ways to build relationships with my neighbors and others that live in the area.  Almost each day this week, I've been able to meet different people who live close to me!  Small conversations...sometimes just in passing, but I know God is reminding me that He hears me!

I love this verse...Numbers 23:19  "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor son of man, that He should change His mind.  Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"

Anyone who has ever spoken to me needs no introduction to the cutie pictured above!  This is my Griffin.  He has parents and grandparents and some other relatives, so he's not technically mine, but I've definitely enjoyed every minute of being his aunt!

Just tonight we were on Skype.  He always sends me kisses and even tries to share Cheerios with me...so fun!  I have a feeling that he may begin expecting his television programs to speak to him since I talk to him from somewhere inside the computer.

Well, all this talk about Griffin is to tell you that he's going to be a BIG BROTHER!  I'm so excited...I'll be an aunt all over again!  I can't wait to share more, but I have to wait for more info myself.  The baby is due about a week after Griffin's second birthday (mid-April), so I'll keep you posted...YAY!!

Don't be misled by the simplicity of this title, for me this has NOT been an easy task since I arrived almost two months ago.  Shortly after moving into my apartment I realized that my washer was not working.  It would fill with water, drain, then fill up again but never spin...all the while holding my clothes hostage for about 24 hours! 

Finally after a month, my landlord gave me permission to buy a new washer and deduct it from my rent.  I ordered it THAT DAY, but as I was scheduling delivery realized that I was going to have to disconnect the old washer and install the new one all by myself! 

Fortunately, I have a dad who knows how to do EVERYTHING when it comes to home maintenance and repair.  (He and a few friends built our house from the ground up!)  Throughout my life he has instilled in me a healthy knowledge of how to fix things and a sense of confidence to just figure it out. 

So that's precisely what I did.  It took a little while and entailed a trip to the hardware store because they have changed a few things since my old washer was installed.  But it's working just great!  Four loads of laundry down and no explosions or floods...so I'd call it a success.