It's a Girl!

My sister Jo had a little 8lbs, 4oz Girl! Little Brook Allison is already being loved on by her older sister & brother... and I think that Jo & Bill are going to have more help than they can handle. Dee and I can't wait to get down there and meet her!!! Congratulations Jo & Bill!!!

Labor

My sister - Jo - called yesterday to say that she is going into hospital today. She is expecting a little girl....... and they are going to induce labor today. So............ anytime today I could have a new niece! I'll let you know just as soon as I hear something!

Today's Random Pic...

TJ and I at the Red Sox - Yankee game last night! The good guys (Red Sox) lost 7 to 9... but it was a great game!

My Jet lagged Thoughts...

It is early on Monday morning and I am already awake. I'm not even sure what time it is here, but the only light that is coming in through the window is a cold blue light that halfway lights up the room. I always enjoy traveling to the US from Europe partly because of the great jet lag. I've never been a jump out of bed in the morning person, but there is something refreshing to being awake so early these first few days. It has really given me a chance to reflect over the past few months, and the past few years..................................... I have to say that sitting here thinking about all those things - all the people that we have become friends with - all the places we have been on our own spiritual pilgrimage - I truly feel blessed. The last three years have been some of the hardest and some of the greatest of my short life - so far. I can't really express the heartache that we both felt when we moved away from our families and friends. It was really like someone had ripped out a part of my flesh - I missed them all so much... But at the same time God was gracious and provided us some awesome friends in our co-workers. Looking back on it now - Dee and I have both said that there is no way we would have survived without this little drop of mercy. We found in them, a refuge, a chance to laugh, a chance to be challenged, and a chance to learn. With time we really felt like we were settling into our new home in Ireland, and to be honest with you it took a lot longer to make good friends there that I would have ever thought.................. But thankfully we feel as if we have become a part of a caring community that accepts us (even with all of our weird Americanisms) and truly wants to be our friends. For this I am immeasurably grateful.

3 and counting...

It is hard to believe…. We have passed our three year anniversary of being in Ireland! Wow…. There is waaaaayyyyy too much to say about the last three years… I will have to take some time this weekend to sit down and collect my thoughts about the whole thing. As for now… today is a wild day here. We leave our house in a few hours… drive to Dublin where we will spend the night with some friends… and then we fly out to Boston (via Paris) tomorrow morning. I wish that I could say that we have all our bags packed and things sitting by the door… but we still have a lot of office work to finish up and a few more things to clean around the house before we head out. Stay tuned… our plan is to continue this website… but to write about our adventures and observations in the good old USA.

Next post from BOSTON!

Why my Mom is the Coolest!

Top five reasons:
5. Underwater basket weaving (I have always thought that she was cool for being able to do that)
4. Her smile
3. She climbed over rock walls and walked through fields with me in Ireland
2. I can always call and talk to her about anything
1. When I was growing up she was always in to the things I was in to... She never complained about going to baseball card shows, and she was the champion Pacman player in the house...

Happy Mother's Day - Mom (Our internet was down yesterday)

Less Than a Week

We are now less than a week away from travelling to the states for the summer. I've come up with a "working" list of things I want to do while in the USA.

My wish list for the summer….
Fish a lot with my dad
Taco Bell
Fall back in love with baseball
Stay up late with old friends
Eat my mom’s biscuits for breakfast
Play Axis & Allies/Risk
Swim as much as I can
Develop my horseshoe playing abilities
Clean up my old room at my parents’ house
Go to eat catfish with Dee’s family
Help cut the grass
Hang out with Steve Y.
Just be a part of the daily lives of those I love
Go out to lunch with nieces and nephews ( a lot)
Do something special (one on one) with my nieces and nephews
Have a darker suntan than my sister – Jo
Real Mexican food – made my Mexicans!
Have a picnic on the mountain
Be there for my parent’s birthdays
Get to know Dee’s side of the family better
Go to the beach
Get up early & collect shells with my mom
Learn some new computer programs
Stay as far away from Wal-mart as I can
Set a new personal record for largest sandcastle built
Have coffee with my parents
Taco Bell
Fossil hunt
Visit the old Indian’s cave near my parents’ house
Sleep late
Visit my old University
Keep running
Find some of my old books that are now in a box somewhere at my parents’
Taco Bell

Changing of the Seasons...

I don’t know when it happened – really – but overnight summer has hit us. I was rudely reminded of it this morning when the sun coming through our bedroom window at 6am woke me up. I heard it yesterday in the sound of the summers first cuckoo bird singing on the wind. He must have just flown in from his summer home in Africa. I saw it yesterday when one of the cows across the street gave birth to twins. Temperatures are warm… flowers are in bloom… Summer is finally here.

Dee and I are frantically getting ready for our trip back to the states. We leave in nine days… and we still have a lot of office work to finish up, rooms to clean, friends to spend time with (one last time), and long walks to take.

Today's Random Pic...

I promise a written entry soon... But for now... Here is a pic I took on an early morning walk...

What do you get?

What do you get when you put one German, one Belgian, two Irish, four Azerbaijani, one Scotsman, one American, and a French boat captain together for a day? Answer: a great day of fishing. I was not sure what I was getting into when I agreed to go out on a little fishing boat for a day with a couple of my friends... It was a cold wet windy day and the sea was very unsettled... So I had a little apprehension about how the day was going to turn out... But spending a day of adventure out with friends (old and now a few new) is always a blast. We fished off the west coasts of Ireland from 9am to 5pm and caught some amazing fish, and made memories that I will always have.


Some highlights:
- It was a windy day and the little red boat rocked back in forth in the three to five feet waves.... But it only added to the laughter.
- Some of us gave our lunches back to the sea (thankfully I didn't)...
- Some of us did face plants into the bucket of fish heads ( caught myself 6inches above it)
- Some of us got pooed on by seagulls (yep - I did)
- And some of us caught the biggest fish of their lives, yet (Yep- I did).