Haggis anyone?

Last weekend was a weekend of several firsts. We had our first "Burn's Night" with our friends I. and L. (names have been withheld to protect the guilty). We didn't even know what a Burn's night was before moving to Ireland... so - for those of you out there (Americans ;) ) that don't know what this is - let me tell you. This sacred night (the 25th of Jan) is a Scottish holiday in remembrance of Scotland's national poet - Robert Burns. Most of you are probably familiar with his work "Auld Lang Syne" (that is sung every New Year's Eve). The evening can be formal or informal... with large groups... or small... but they always require laughter... speeches.... toasts... poetry being recited and...................... (take a deep breath)............... Haggis!

The Haggis was paraded around the room.... addressed with poetry (that was written to it) and eventually eaten.

Haggis.... well............ How should I describe Haggis? I'm not really sure how to explain the smell... and taste of sheep's heart, liver, and lungs.... that is minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt and then is boiled in the animal's stomach for three hours. I'll just let your imagination tell you what it tasted like.... I didn't think that it was all that bad. I don't know that I would order it for dinner anytime soon... but there was something cool about eating a traditional dish that you know has to be thousands of years old.

In the end - Burn's night was a lot of fun. Not so much for the food (although it was cooked perfectly) but more for the friends and the time we got to spend with them. What a fun night of laughter and fun. I can say for certain that it was a night I will never forget.

Here are a few pics for you to enjoy.

Fresh Haggis!





I. carving the Haggis (no joke)





Who wouldn't want that?





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Today's Random Pics....

A pic by Dee:




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Swan lake

This weekend was an especially nice one here in Ireland. The sun came out... the rain clouds rolled away... people shed their coats... and for a bit - it felt like a spring day.

We spent some time in the city helping our new co-workers find their way around town and shop for their new house... but before we did this we stopped at one of my favorite little spots to feed the swans. I love the majestic creatures... but they can be a bit pushy if you have bread in your hand... and especially if you are a kid that is roughly the same size as them.

Here are a few pics...











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Two weeks and counting

Ok... our photo exhibition is going to be two weeks from today. We still have a TON of planning to do! I have put together a few posters that I am getting printed today. I plan on posting them up in a couple of places around town tomorrow ( i hope). Here is a quick sample.


















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Another Random Pic...

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Happy Birthday - Irish Rain!

Don't know if you have noticed... but we have passed a big milestone around the ol' website.


This month marks the 5th anniversary of our Irish Rain website! I can't believe that I have kept this going for SO long!

Over the past 5 years the website has had over 34,000 visits! Who are you people?

Over the past year we have had visitors from all over the world. Here is a map that shows all of the visitors locations in 2008:





This last year we had an average of 100 visits per day:






Thank you to everyone who drops in from time to time... and especially those of you that check on us every day! I can't tell you how much we appreciate you coming by the website! Stay tuned... I'll keep posting!




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Today's Random Pic...

More from the sunset (We have barely seen the sun since!)







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Taking the plunge...

Well............. I can't believe that we are going to do it.... but we are!


(insert drum roll here.......)


In just under three weeks - we are going to hold our first public photo exhibition!


Wow... that is a scary thought! Our local library has a very large multipurpose room that is used for just about anything/everything. It is a courtroom (once a month)... a reading room... a concert hall... and even an art gallery. So... before I left to go back to the states I reserved this room for the month of February (yes - I picked the shortest month!). My plan is to hang/display photos that we took while in the States. We will have an opening on Friday the 6th of February 7pm to 9pm and then the photos will hang (and the room will be open to the public) for the rest of the month.

I went in to reconfirm that we do indeed have the room, and just talking about the details made me nervous. I don't really know why... but it does make me a bit nervous to have strangers and friends come look at my photos while I am still standing there...... But I also think that I need/want some push to evolve and... a reason to take more pictures. There is just something about being able to share what I see, and I think that it will be great to share our experiences in the states with our friends here.

So... there you have it... more details later...

Oh... and I have changed the timer on the top of the page to countdown to the show...



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A followup pic

Here is another pic from the other night. I can't tell you how I enjoyed standing out there slowly watching the rain move over the ocean and the sun slowly sink into the west. To be honest - I was a bit overwhelmed by the amazing power of the moment... and I didn't want it to end. I probably was out there about two hours... walking the beach and boardwalk... meeting old friends along the way... praying... and standing in awe at the awesome display taking place in front of me.

As I stood there - I couldn't help but be grateful to see such an amazing sight in the middle of Winter... these type of days are rare during the heart of winter... and I couldn't help but be thankful for one during this time of transition back to Ireland...

So... here are another two pics from the night... I will probably post a few more over the next couple of days (i.e. I took a ton that turned out really well!).











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Today's Random Pic...

a rainstorm off the coast of Ireland last night...







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A quick update!

Sorry for the long silence.... The last few days have flown by so quickly... and we have been home so little that I have not had much time to do much of anything (including unpacking).

Here are a few random thoughts/things:

Our little house was in great shape! Just about all of our plants (the most important ones) were alive and doing well. We happened to be coming back during what seems to be the coldest week of the year... Thankfully our neighbor came in and turned our heat on to start the long process of warming the house. We have this modern heating system that radiates heat from the floor, but it takes several days to really get warmed up all the way... Today (Tuesday) was the first real day that the house really felt warm. We did have one strange discover in our house. I'm not sure why... but we have an abundance of rolly pollies ( you know that cute little bug). I don't know why... but they are all over the house. not really enough to be a bother... but strange!

It was great to get back and see so many of our friends. We have had a ton of coffee and tea over the last few days... and it really has been fun to have such a great welcome back.

ok... i know that this post is a bit random... but I will update more soon!

Hiya!

We made it to Ireland... and are back in our little house! It has been a long couple of days... but it feels so good to be in one place and not be moving! I'll update soon to tell you about our trip!

The day of days

Well... we are headed to the airport... next post... (i hope) from Ireland!






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Mexican food... Wal-mart...Sweet tea... oh my!

We are really down to the wire now! I spent most of today packing and organizing. I have also suddenly realized that I need to be enjoying those crazy little American things that I won't have when I get back to Ireland.

So today...
I stood out in the heat (it was around 70 here! )
I wore shorts .....
I ate sunflower seeds.....
I bought cheap gas.....
I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant....
I drove with the windows down.....
I at Capt'n Crunch for dinner.....

Tomorrow............ I am going to go to Wal-mart and Best buy!

Making DVDs

Several of you have asked for me to explain how I converted our old 8mm, Beta, and VHS tapes to DVD... it really was not all that hard to do... but it did take me a long time.

I started out by investigating different companies that would transfer the films... I quickly discovered that this really was not an option. We had a ton of tapes in three different formats, and the cost to convert them all was far more than we wanted to pay.

In the end - it was a lot of fun to do it myself. It gave me an opportunity to watch all of these old films (many of which I had never seen) with my parents and family! We had a lot of fun reliving our family history!


Here is what I did:

8mm films
When we started - We were not even sure if any of the films had survived. We quickly discovered that they were in fairly good condition, and that the projector still worked perfectly.

1 - We set the projector up and projected the image onto a small screen. (Keeping the image small helped to make the images sharper.)
2 - We set up my Digital camcorder directly above the projector and filmed the movies as they played. Our camcorder films in high quality... and we were really pleased with the results.
3 - We took the digital recording on the camcorder and imported them onto my Mac. The Mac comes already loaded with software (IMovie) that allowed me to edit, add music, and even restore parts of the films. I have to say that I really am impressed with my little MacBook. The software are very easy to use and I learned how to restore the films very quickly.
4 - After importing them onto my computer... i mean MacBook... We used other software (iDVD) that came already loaded to create cool DVD menus and to burn the final products onto DVDs for my whole family.
I know that not everyone has a MacBook... and there is software out there that you can use on a PC... I just don't know what it is. sorry.


Beta films

- My father found (really did "find") a Beta player that still works. We then converted the old tapes to VHS and from there converted them to DVD (see that section).


VHS tapes

- I looked into several options on how to import directly from a VHS... but in the end used what we had. My father-in-law had purchsed a DVD/VHS combo that allows you to actually Dub tapes on to DVD. This machine is a Toshiba and is sold at BestBuy (click here to see the actual product). We were really pleased with the final product... but it did not allow you to edit your DVDs. If you wanted to clean them up and condense them from multiple DVDs into 1 you would have to import them to the MacBook and do it there.

I hope that helps a bit. Please don't hesitate to ask questions... I'll be glad to help if I can!

(ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: if you are going to burn DVDs you need to be sure and use DVD-R or DVD-RW. Other formats such (+) do not work in all players!)



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Happy New Year!

Wow! 2009! Just a quick note to say that things are a bit crazy around here right now. We leave my parents' house tomorrow morning and drive down to Dee's parents'. We then turn around and fly back out (for Ireland) on Tuesday! Wow... where did six months go? There are still a ton of things we had wanted to do... and so many people we have planned on seeing...... I just don't know where the time has gone...........


Well... I just told my mom that today is not a sad day.... and we are just going to count our blessings and enjoy the day.... we have so much to be grateful for. 2008 was a good year. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have been back in the states.... and to have had so much time with my loved ones! I am a bit nervous about 2009. I know that it will be hard to leave my family again... that living in Ireland will probably take some readjustment.... and that there will probably be some trials and unforeseen obstacles.......................... but I really do have a strange peace and confidence that whatever faces us on this pilgrims' trail in 2009 will be a part of a bigger plan........... and that we are not alone as we walk forward on this pilgrimage.



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Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a great new year's celebration... here are a few pics of ours...


















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