Ireland - March 2011

I've come to accept the fact that my original plan to blog about my AMAZING trip to Ireland just isn't going to happen. This has taken a back seat to more pressing issues, but I still would like to post some of the beautiful pictures and give a brief summary... so here goes.

I landed in Dublin and immediately set off for adventure! The idea was to see as much as we could in the short week-long trip! I came prepared with raingear since that is the typical weather for this season... but was pleasantly surprised as the week progressed :)

However, when we landed it was cloudy. We had taken the overnight flight and I was exhausted, but we set off to our first stop - Malahide Castle. And, as we walked along the path to the castle the SUN came out! Or, really, a brief glimpse of it. I was excited none the less.

Malahide Castle

Then, off to Skerries Mills. It's a unique collection of two windmills and a watermill with an associated mill pond, and wetlands. The mills were used for grinding corn: wheat oats and barley - wind power complementing water power, particularly in times of drought dating back to 1538. And, they still work! We got a private tour because there were no other visitors there! (One of the benefits of visiting in the off-season!)

Windmill #2

After this, we were spent. And, after having spent lots of time getting lost, we decided to just go to our hotel and find dinner before dark. Sunday was bound to be another adventure!

Sunday - We checked out early and set off for Newgrange. It's a Megalithic Passage Tomb that was built around 3200 B.C.. In the picture it's the large dome structure in the back top left hand corner. This picture is from the museum for it. The kidney shaped mound covers an area of over one acre and is surrounded by 97 kerbstones, some of which are richly decorated with megalithic art. The 19 meter long inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof. It is estimated that the construction of the Passage Tomb at Newgrange would have taken a work force of 300 at least 20 years!
Next we went to the Hills of Tara. A large area containing ancient monuments, and a former sacred site for kingship rituals. But, also, really just an incredible amount of small "hills". Almost like bunny slopes for a young skier to learn on!

St. Peter's Church was located on the grounds as well and had an old graveyard associated with it.

Final tourist stop for the day was Clonmacnoise. This was one of the places I really wanted to visit because I had read about so much of its history. It was created between 545 and 548A.D. The monastery's location helped it become a major center of learning, religion, craftsmanship, and trade by the 9th century. It was visited by many scholars from all over Europe and many of the High Kings of Tara were buried here.

This was also my first introduction to a "High Cross" or "Standing Cross". It is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and richly decorated with symbolism. They often feature a stone ring around the intersection forming a Celtic cross.

After touring the ruins of the monastery (so cool!!), we headed to our hotel located in a "city" right on the River Shannon where I had my first and last "pub" experience (there really is one on ever corner... or more) and was sad to find out that "Subway" restaurants in Ireland don't offer the same footlong deals that they do in America!

Monday - The sun is OUT! Wahoo. A beautiful day!
Off to Galway

So, Saturday we started out in Dublin (eastern Ireland) and by Monday morning we are all the way on the western side of Ireland in Galway (a college town on the water). Very pretty. Sadly many of the museums we wanted to see were closed... because they always are closed on Mondays, but we walked around town.

I thought this sign was funny.
But, made a good point.

And, yep. Thought this sign was a little unnecessary... isn't that obvious?

A colorful row of homes right on the water.
So pretty!

After Galway, we set off for our drive through the Burren, an Irish word meaning "great rock"... and in a minute you'll see why it's given that title!

But, first we drove through Kinvara to see the Dungaire Castle (picture above... it is thought to be the most photographed castle in Ireland... and I aided in that thinking!) and I saw my first thatched roof cottage roof. It was only sitting 2 feet from the main road. I would be scared a drunk driver would drive right in my living room! But, I guess the stone wall would prevent that! Smart thinking to put it there!

Me sitting next to the Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara. It sits right in Galway Bay and it's a very pretty area.

We drove past this sign on our drive to The Burren. Ha. It made me think of Boston, MA being just around the corner! Boston would fit right in, in Ireland. It's got crazy street layouts that don't connect like you think they should!
However, this is a picture of the typical crazy signage we had to figure out in Ireland. No wonder we got lost so many times. A slight breeze from the wind could turn the sign in a different direction!!
Entering the Burren... you can tell by the ROCKS! It has a Karst topography, which is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of layers of soluble bedrock.

In 1651, Edmund Ludlow stated, "(Burren) is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him...... and yet their cattle are very fat; for the grass growing in turfs of earth, of two or three foot square, that lie between the rocks, which are of limestone, is very sweet and nourishing."

So true! I also learned that many farmers would let their cows roam here during the winter months and saw herds of them as well!

Can you see the cattle at the top of the hill?

Looks like a storm was coming,
but we never had any rain!

Typical Ireland parking.
Totally would confuse me as to which side
of the road I was then driving on if I did this!

Poulnabrone Dolmen is a portal tomb in the Burren dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC.

Temple Cronan, The Burren
A chapel built over a sacred spring, or "holy well"

Our final stop on the tour of The Burren was at the Kilmacdaugh Monastery. One of the significant features of this monastery is the slim 30 meter tall round tower! It's doorway is 7 meters above ground level!

The tall tower :)

We headed back to our hotel for dinner and some google mapping out our next day. (I highly recommend a GPS for anyone doing this in the future!)

Tuesday: We checked out of hotel to head south down to Cork, but stopped a few places along the way. First stop was the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. So Cool!

The Folk Park brings to life a 19th century village. Here are some of the highlights:

This was a servant or peasants house... where, yes, their livestock lived in the house with them!

The cooking area
Some nice dishes... in my opinion!

Yes, that is a bedroom up there! Space was tight! They had a rolling ladder that was moved to the side of the room when not needed. Sounds like a perfect way to torture a sibling or punish a child that wouldn't behave. Stick them up there and move the ladder!

The CASTLE!
The Castle is the most complete and authentic medieval fortress in Ireland. Built in 1425 it was restored in 1954 to its former medieval splendor and now contains mainly 15th and 16th century furnishings, tapestries, and works of art which capture the mood of those times.
It even hosts medieval dinners for guests in the evening!

The inside dining hall.
I climbed all the way to the tippy-top!
It's a long way up some very narrow steps!

This was one of the houses in the village.
A pretty shade of blue, I thought!

The Rock of Cashel.
This is a tourist trap. It was expensive to get in to and not worth it at all! It is under renovation, but still. Very disappointing. Many of the things we saw for free were much cooler than this. The one great thing about it was the views from its grounds since it sits on a huge hill!

This is the Hore Abbey which was just below the Rock of Cashel. It was free to get in to and much cooler to walk through!

The rest of the day we continued our drive to Cork and to find our hotel. Ha, that was an adventure. And, I won't even mention how LOST we got trying to get back to our hotel after dinner. However, many, many Irish folks tried to help us find our way! One guy even walked over two blocks to meet us again to help us get on the right road. Ugh... an hour or so later we returned. It should have been an 8-10 min drive!

Wednesday: We set off for Skibbereen Heritage Center. This is a really cool museum about the Irish Potato Famine and does a great job of helping the guest understand life for the Irish people in that area in the 1840s. However, the other "gem" we found at this museum was their volunteer "Terri". She was absolutely LOVELY and so fun to talk to! And, she told us all the things we should stop and see on our drive over to the Cobh Heritage Center. All of the "gems" she told us to see were not in any tourist book! LOVE THAT!

The drive she took us on followed the coast. So, on this sunny day we were constantly in awe of the very pretty coastline and the small towns we saw along the way.

First stop: Drombeg Stone Circle
A.K.A. Ireland's Stone Henge

Amazing views as well

Standing between the male and female stone
and opposite the mid-point.

One of the pretty towns we drove through
So quaint and peaceful.
You would think no one lived there.

I just laughed every time I saw cars parked like this!

We spent the rest of the day at the Cobh Heritage Center and in Cobh.

Thursday: We had to make the long drive back to Dublin because we flew out early the next morning, but we stopped at a few places along the way! This was also one of my favorite's from the trip. Again, totally free to get in and walk around... and AMAZING views! Rock of Dunmase

I just LOVED the green and rolling hills!

And, then this is still me at the same place as the pictures above. Storms roll in quickly so we took the picture before it started pouring! We were so lucky with weather and never got caught in the rain when we were out and about.

The rest of Thursday we spent getting to our hotel by the Dublin airport and just enjoying one last evening in this beautiful country! I can't wait to go back!!!

Friends

... a little side post until I can get my act together and blog about Ireland!

I've truly been blessed with many great friends throughout my life. I am a believer that certain people are placed in your life when you need them, and I think this is true of the friends I have met and made throughout my life.

"Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life."

My college years at BYU were incredible. I loved it and am so grateful I had the opportunity to attend it. But, certain things happened during the Fall of my Sophomore year that rattled my comfort zone and the life I had built at BYU... and I found myself very alone and in need of friends.

I don't remember all the details of how it all happened, but I had known from the start of the semester that there was (what appeared to me) a very fun and active group of girls living on the other side of my apartment building in two different apartments. I didn't have enough courage to just go over and introduce myself and hope that they would invite me in. So, instead, I tried to strategically place myself in areas where I would possibly get a chance to know one or two of them. Ha, Ha! Embarrassing to admit now, but I REALLY wanted to be friends with them. They seemed SO COOL and that they were all having fun!

So, again, I don't remember all the silly things I tried, but the Lord was watching over me and I did become friends with all of them. And, this blessing dramatically affected the rest of my years at BYU for the better... as well as my life since then! I LOVE that even though many miles separate us, we are still able to keep in touch thank to the internet!

I ended up getting to know two of the girls (Maylene and Nancy) in one apartment first and this led to getting to know all of their friends as well! Months down the road, I ended up moving in with these two girls and the rest is history!

I was able to go to Phoenix about three years ago to see Maylene and her cute family, and ever since we've always talked about how I need to come back and visit, or she needs to come to the east! Finally, around Christmas time, Maylene decided 2011 was her year to come visit the east coast for the first time in her life! We talked about some dates, and decided that this past week would be the best time. Why put it off?!!!

Well, she flew home this afternoon and I can't even express how much fun and how wonderful it was to have her visit! We've both obviously grown up a bit... look a little older... and have become a lot more responsible than we were in college :) BUT talking with her and being with her is just like we never moved thousands of miles from each other!

A little summary of our trip:

I couldn't take off of work since I had all last week off, so Maylene got to hang out with me and the kids! She flew in Wed, but sadly I had to work late... and fortunately another of our BYU friends who lives in this area was free (!!) so they got to hang out. I felt bad I couldn't pick her up at the airport, but Maylene was excited to take a train and a subway for the first time!

I picked her up on Thursday morning and off we went to do some errands for the family. Thursday was a little atypical in the afternoon because I had to keep the kids out of the house after school until 7 pm - ish, so we played with them at the school playground and then came to my apartment for dinner and a movie! We ordered pizza and enjoyed some (scary!!) kid movies.

I asked one of the kids to take a picture of us. Shaky 8 year old hands...

After we dropped the kids off at home, we came back to watch the BYU game. Go Cougs! But, sadly, I am not able to stay up as late as I did in college and a few early mornings this week had me falling asleep at 8:40 PM - right at the start of the 2nd half! Maylene was able to watch the rest though :) She must have thought I lead a sad, sad life given how early I went to bed!

Friday was BUSY! The kids had their first day of spring break, and I had invited two of their friends to join us on our adventures that day - so we had 5 kids total (I was SO glad Maylene was there!). We had a ton of fun going to the Dulles Air and Space Museum and then to this "House of Bounce" where they have about ten huge inflatable structures for the kids to run around and jump on. They ran and played tag between the different bounce structures for almost 90 minutes! I was exhausted watching them. Fortunately, they have some gossip magazines for parents to sit and read while waiting... so Maylene and I caught up on all our celebrity gossip :)

We had a picnic lunch and then some down time before taking the twins to Tae Kwon Do. Then home for baths and dinner. It was a VERY full day, but it was so fun to have Maylene there. The kids loved her, and she kept me calm when my patience level was at zero :)

After work, I took Maylene to see the DC temple. It was a beautiful night! Inside the visitor center they had a really pretty art display.
And, then... the moment I had been waiting three (3!) years for. I was so fortunate that Maylene was willing to make her famous fajitas for us for dinner later on! Oh yum! No one can make them as good as her with all the fixins! She's a master chef in the kitchen! They were so yummy and there was enough for many leftovers! We ended our evening with a lovely chic flick :)

Saturday was another eventful day. Maylene had never been in to downtown DC. It was fun to see her look at everything and ask questions as we drove all over! There is quite a history here... and although I don't know much, it was fun to share with her what I had learned.

We knew we didn't have too much time, but we got to see the White House Visitor Center. Then, we walked over to the White House... or as close as you could get.

Look at the snipers or the secret service on the roof.
Security is TIGHT!

This is the "famous" garden that Michelle Obama has growing on the White House lawn to promote her healthy eating campaign.
Afterward, we headed over a few more blocks to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery. I had also never been here before, but was very impressed.

I seriously thought this person was REAL!

I had to walk up close to make sure she wasn't!Next it was on to lunch at one of the closet places to Mexican Food we have here in DC... "Baja Fresh!" Yum.

And, then on to Mount Vernon. The home of George and Martha Washington.

Again, since it was such a beautiful day we were so lucky to have the opportunity to walk ALL over it. They have done such a great job with the museum and the upkeep of all the history there in order to share it with visitors.

A wooden bridge we walked over to get to the slave quarters and farm.

The tomb of George Washington and 25 of his family members.

The actual tombs of GW and MW. GW on the right and MW on the left.

Maylene in front of the house right before we took a tour of it!

This is the view from the back of his home in Mount Vernon. So pretty!

Saturday night we went to my ward activity for a bit and then back home to watch more BYU basketball and another chic flick!

It was a very fun, eventful and unforgettable few days. I am so grateful for friends who... even though the miles may be far between us... when we talk or get together... it's like we were never apart! Saying goodbye was sad, but it makes me look fwd to our next visit even more!

And, Maylene is truly a friend that fits this category:

"A Friend is someone who knows all about you and loves you anyway!!!"

I'm still alive... and musings from today

It's been a while since I've posted anything... and that was made even more aware to me when a friend emailed me to make sure I was still alive :)

I am.

That's a huge relief
(especially to me!)

But, I am just in awe that it's already the middle of March. WHEW. Where did the time go? I'm happy winter is on its way out (and even happier I spent the winter in DC and NOT Boston where they got pounded with snow!)

Life has been busy. I've had a nice balance of working a ton of hours, but then getting some significant time off while the family I work for took two vacations. The nice part of my job is that I also get to take vacations when they do (and not with them!) I went home for one of them, and went to here for the other week.

Ha, ha! Not Boston, but ...

THE EMERALD ISLE

And, it was absolutely wonderful! The best weather I could have asked for, the nicest people we met along the way, and I couldn't ask for a better, more patient, and fun travel companion :)

I will post more pictures soon. All I have to say is... I can't wait to go back! It was my first time overseas, and I decided to go only 5 weeks before... so a lot of my "spare" time was spent in reading travel websites and books about what to do and see! It was well worth it! We stayed away from most of the cities and "touristy" stuff and got to see/experience the true beauty of the country! It is simply a magical/beautiful country.

Coming home has been a bit hard with the time change, and the added bonus of "Springing our clocks forward an hour!", but life goes on. With the busyness of trip planning and work, I had kind of put my life on hold. Now that I am back... it's kind of staring me in the face and making me a bit fearful and anxious in certain areas. I read this talk today and it helped me refocus my thoughts, which brought me peace.

However, this quote stuck out to me like it was flashing on the page in bright lights and I've been pondering the reality of it all day:

Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said:

The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best? The same is true with the second coming and with all those matters wherein our faith needs to include faith in the Lord's timing for us personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes. [Even As I Am (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982), 93]

I do believe that Heavenly Father has my best interest and welfare at heart, but it's hard not seeing the future from the present. Looking back, I can clearly see his hand in my life, but my faith often lacks and doubt enters when I think about the future. If he hasn't abandoned me yet... why would he now?

How can I just remember this and let faith replace my doubt?!

I'm just sayin'... this was written for me :)

Here's the link:

Abandon Resolutions. Stop looking for a soulmate. Reject Positive Thinking... Our new year issue kicks off with advice on how to be a better person in 2011 (and it's not what you think!)

How have I done so far:

1. Abandon your new year resolutions - today
Well, since I never made any,
I am good to go with this one!

2. Stop Looking for your soulmate
Oh yes. Right now the only thing on my
"list of qualifications in my future husband" is
"must be male" :)
Very much downsized the list since
I made it in Young Womens!

3. Overhaul your information diet (but don't starve)
I'm OK with this... I think... but it does suck you in! Why do I care that someone's eating a sandwich for lunch and feels the need to tell the world about it?! Becoming more conscious of how much time I spend on it... but there is always room for improvement.

4. Self-improvement - Track your personal data
This is one I want to start doing.
Where does my day go?

5. Volunteer
Need to do more, but I already volunteer in the kids school during the week and try to when opportunities come up in my church. But, always can do more.

6. Reject Positive Thinking
I semi-agree with this one. I agree with the work ethic in that sometimes you "just need to do it" and not wait till you feel like it because I never feel like shoveling my car out, but I can only procrastinate so long. However, the only way I can finish a run sometimes is to tell myself over and over in my head "I can do this. I am almost there!" (Even if it's a lie... but hey, it keeps me going and I say it over and over so it kind of becomes like a song!) Positive Thinking can be beneficial, but I can also see how it can be damaging. Depends on the situation. But, I am not going to reject it completely.

7. Make dinner, make furniture, make effort
I TOTALLY agree with this one except when it comes to cooking. I usually feel like I've conquered the world when I assemble a piece of furniture or work hard at something. But, the feeling does not come with cooking. Sorry, I've tried. I have felt slight satisfaction when I am cooking for someone else... but never for just myself. How can I change that one?? Any ideas?

8. Don't take frugality too far
Totally agree with this one as well. Life is passing quickly and if I don't take the opportunity now... when is it going to be a better time to let's say... jump out of a plane! Or, go in a hot air balloon! I'm never going to regret leaving work early one day... but I can think of many things I will look back on and regret if I don't do them!

9. Befriend your friends' friends
Totally agree with this one as well... working on it

10. Creativity - make one small change to your workplace
Have a plan for this and I need to implement it! Since I don't have an "office space" and can't change the family's house... I'll focus on my living space. My roommate gave me an old desk. I have the primer and sand paper to start refurbishing it... but keep putting it off! I'll go back and read numbers 6 & 7 now.

So, maybe this post will be my new years resolution (which I won't abandon!)... and I'll report how I did next December. Here we go 2011!