canadaaa ka!

so I’m back in canada land.
exhausted and stinky. it is SO warm here, haha. and I am slightly relieved to be able to crossz the road without feeling like I’m going to die, even if there’s not a car on the road. haha.
that’s about all I’m happy about right now. haha. it was so sad leaving. and the “2 hours” of sleep I got last night didn’t help my emotional state any more. haha. oh well. I’ll actually be happy to be home, and not have to pay for internet anymore. or not be thinking about schedules and how much I can spend on food. not that I had to think about any of that, really, while I was in Ireland. but I’m sick of the in between right now. I like being either here or there. not in transit.

welllll, I know I had many more profound thoughts than these, but my brain is absolutely fried. more from me when I get back to saint john and am not watching the time tick down and a red bar go across the screen as I run out of time. haha. stress. SJ tomorrow. time for a guiness. haha.

<3

Sleep will come..

My final day here in ireland was spent sleeping in one last time I’m my cozy fluffy bed then getting up to the routine I had gotten myself into these past 2 weeks, ending in me down on the couch, saying goodmornimg to zach ok the way by, checking email waiting to say good morning to jay and kel as they came down (or more often, saying good morning as I came down since they had already been awake forever, haha). I love having friends around when you wake up.

Shortly after email checking this morning we headed to subway then on to Belfast to meet up with some other friends from iris. I got to sit in on an amazing meeting about “the mission worldwide” stuff (jay and kel’s charity that they run) and just get insanely inspired by listening to them and their hearts and plans. Unfortunately I had to leave with my friend graham before the meeting was over because he had to get some work done and meet someone. So I had to say some very sad goodbyes.. The horrible part of having friends all over the world.. And then put on my brave face and continue with the day.

After graham got back from his meeting we headed over to his house where there were 2 other hg3ers,tim and christine, there to see me. Plus one’s new husband and ones girlfriend.

Graham and tim’s roommate made an amazing supper (I’ve only eaten amazing food since coming here!) graham bought me flowers and a yummy cake and champaign for everyone to celebrate, and tim’s girlfriend ruth made me a birthday cake! It was so sweet. So we just got to hang out, eat, drink champaign and play music all night. I taught than all to play Dutch blitz too, haha, that was fun then we all headed to bed and my mind has been so busy I haven’t been able to come close to sleeping. I really should try again though.. I need to be up to go to the airport in 2 hours! Ew..

Hopefully sleep will come. Night.

Back to Belfast

I had to say the dreaded goodbyes to jay and kellie this afternoon. tonight I’m staying in belfast with other friends from mozambique so I can get to the airport bright and early in the morning to fly home. it’ll be cool to see them, but my heart is definitely pretty sad to leave ballymoney, and kel and jay. I’ll be back though.

so right now I’m just killing time and my friend graham’s studio while he’s out meeting with someone, and waiting to hook up with the rest of the belfast gang. it’ll be a good night. I’ve heard roumors of some homemade dessert. hehe. should be good.

I’m out.

happy early birthday to me!

today was beautiful.

I got to sleep in, then get up and have a shower in my wonderful own personal bathroom (have I ever mentioned how amazing my room here is? it’s amazing). I opened up the curtains to a beautiful blue sky, and then sauntered downstairs. shortly after kel and jay came down, and we headed out for an early birthday lunch. they took me to one of their absolute favourite places to eat called Ramore Wine Bar. it was iiiiincredible. ALL the food was so good! and the desserts…. oooh my life. Light, heavenly cheesecake. chocolate mousse and strawberries. oooh life. so yummy.

after lunch we took our food babies and headed to coleraine to a fun shop where I wanted to buy a hat. so we went, and it was this SUPER awesome little store with amazing clothes. normally I don’t really care about shopping at ALL. I couldn’t care less. but I don’t know if it was just because I’m in Ireland and that in general makes it cooler, or that it was actually just a really awesome store.. but £63 later I came out of there with the hat I went in for, and a new really awesome winter jacket. hehe.

then we headed for a lovely coastal drive, the long way home. it was so beautiful. little sheepies and cows everywhere. grazing right on the edge of massive cliffs. we stopped at this amazing castle ruins called Dunluce Castle. they built it so close to the cliff edge that part of it slid off into the ocean, and it traumatized the remaining family so much that they just up and left their castle.

I desperately searched for some souvenirs to bring back to friends, but apparently those don’t really exist here, so I walked away with a couple postcards and headed off the the rest of the beautiful drive home.

back home was the second week of kel’s “the artist’s way” group, which was, again, amazing. it’s so inspiring to sit in a room filled with other creative people and just realize that we’re not alone, and that we all think the same kind of things. I’m going to be, HOPEfully, *crossing fingers* joining in the rest of the weeks through skype. I just need to find my stinkin’ webcam and a mic. haha. or.. miraculously obtain a mac. either one works.. hehe.

now it’s bed time for me. busy day tomorrow – I’m headed to belfast for the night, so I can leave early on thursday morning. boooo. all day I’ve been trying to come up with plans so I don’t have to go home. things like… slipping and breaking my spine. slipping and cracking my head open. slipping and breaking my leg… all of which involve pain, but jay and kel agreed to pray and get it all healed up for me once I have safely missed my flight. hehehe. walking up and down those cliffs in my flip flops today, that seemed like a real possibility. haha. we’ll see. my clumsiness may just work out in my favour…

boa noite todos.

Castle Rock Surprise

Kel and I outside the temple

Today kellie took me on a surprise adventure to a place called castle rock. When we were out at the beach the other day she pointed out this temple on the very corner of this huge cliff to me, and said it was one of her favourite places to go, and told me about how beautiful it is up there. So this morning when we woke to SUNSHINE she decided it was the perfect day to go on a little adventure!

We walked down to the train station and hopped on. It was so beautiful cutting right through the countryside. Cute little sheep and cows dotting all the brilliant green fields – extra green now from all the rain we’ve had. Little stone barns with cute little fences in the middle of blowing wheat and acres upon acres of land, and massive farm houses with long driveways with perfectly trimmed hedges on each side. I could live here.

We got off the train in this tiny little town called Castle Rock and went to a cute coffee shop for an iced latte and a warm cinnamon bun. We sat at the window on the second story, with a flower

Out the window of "Cruesoes"

box outside, over looking the town. When we were done we headed down to walk along the beach on our way up to the temple on the cliff. Oh goodness, I had no idea what was in store for me.

The beach was beautiful in the sun. It looks like a entirely different country here when it’s not raining. I took off my flip flops and kicked up the smooth white sand, watching the wind pick it up and whisk it away. After walking for a bit, we veered off onto the road and started the long climb up to the temple. The temple was only the beginning, though. It was the only part I had seen from a distance, so I didn’t know what else to expect. The entire place kel took me was this property owned by this Lord and Lady years and years ago before the 2nd world war. So in the beginning, as we started up the hill we were walking down this lane enclosed by hedges, and a rock wall with golden fields on one side, and the ocean on the other. we veered off onto this path that was barely visible, and walked along the side of the hill till we got to a duck pond. we walked across the dam, and headed up this steep path that looked like the rain forest I was in in south africa. an amazing view, and insane loss of breath later the path all of a

Break time

sudden had stairs going up over a wall. as we climbed up over we there was another path following a stone wall around the cliffs and beautiful wheat all up the side. I kicked off my sandals to walk on the soft spongy green path, and stopped innumerable times to take pictures of the amazing coast. we took a quick break on the side of the path to lay in the wheat field. the view from there was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. laying there in the grass, the smell of flowers and wheat blowing down the cliff and the sound of the turquoise waves crashing hundreds of feet below. Definitely one of those moments I want to keep locked away in this faulty memory of mine forever.

after we noticed these bugs hovering over our heads we decided to get up and keep hiking. as we got further and further up the top of the temple started coming into view. we could see southern

Still laying in the grass

ireland across the water with heavy rain threatening to blow over to our side. so we said a quick prayer for the rain to stay the heck away, and kept on going.

the temple was amazing. the lord of the property built it for his wife as a gift. I can see why – it was locked so we didn’t get to go in, but wow.. the view from there was like nothing I’ve ever seen. we continued on from there to the castle just behind. apparently it used to be enormous, and the roof was made of glass, but no one really knows much more than that because the land was privately owned, and then the germans bombed it in the war, and completely destroyed it. so sad. but what was left was still incredible. and again – the view from all the windows in there… oh my gosh. one side looked over the entire town below and into the surrounding towns. another looked off into green and golden fields speckled with sheep,

Walking up to the Mussenden Temple

and another off to the ocean and southern ireland.

kel and I walked around and explored a bit more and then headed back down.

I could write so much more. so many more details making this day the best of the trip so far, but this post is already long enough. today was amazing. the thought of going home is definitely getting harder with each day that passes.

Walking up to the castle

Heading back down the cliffs

Catching up

Here are some photos from my trip so far. I finally got some of them put on the computer, so take a peek!

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

London Eye

Just for tourists

Photo booth

Double Decker

In Belfast with Graham and Jay!

Belfast

Portrush and The Remember Kids

We went to the show last night. Kellie and Jay’s friend Paul (Rose’s boyfriend) is in this band called “The Remember Kids” and they.. are phenomenal. I was SOO freaking impressed.

We arrived to this semi-dive of a bar, that had about 10 other people in it, and this one guy standing up front with his guitar hollering into the mic. He was just the opening act, I wasn’t too worried yet. So we sat around for a bit, the next band came on.. still bad. the lead singer looked like he was a marionette on crazy drugs and every once in a while the person holding the strings just dropped them. haha. the band was awful.. not in time, not together at all.. oi. haha. they were fun to crack jokes about, though. haha.

so, when it was time for Paul’s band to get up, honestly I wasn’t expecting too much. although the place had filled up considerably.

set up.

sound check.

“ooh. he has one of those little synth piano things!” hehe.

first note… I’m blown away!!

the band was SO tight. and SOO awesome! haha. that’s all I can say. I wish they could come to canada so you could all experience their awesomeness. until that happens, this will have to due – check out their tunes on the good ol’ myspace. they still sound great, but you’re still going to be missing out on the energy of the show. just trust me – it was awesome! hehe. I still can’t hear out of my left ear… *slight worried face* hehe.

check em’ out.
www.myspace.com/therememberkids

The Remember Kids

I think we’re, hopefully, *crossing fingers*, going out to do a bit of sight seeing today. it’s been horrible weather for the past week, but I woke up to semi-blue skies today! we’ve got to pack their house so they can move out by the end of the month, and we have to go get some more work done on the new house, but… it’s sunny!!

we’ll see what the day brings.  :)

rain, rain, go away

we all sit here in the living room, feet all tapping at the same time, quietly relaxing with some warm tea after our trek to the ocean. (written 2 days ago, but never finished…)

we went for a drive out to the coast a couple days ago. it was absolutely beautiful. I officially fell in love with Ireland that day. we went out to Port Stewart and walked along the windy beach. jay throwing a stick for zach who was SO excited to be there, and kellie pointing out the sights to me as I took pictures trying, in vain, to capture the intense beauty of the day. although there was heavy cloud cover, they were powerful strong looking clouds. threatening rain, but endearingly bold and beautiful and the same time. or maybe I was just enjoying the company, and being in a complete different world.

Jay playing fetch with Zach

Jay, Kel and I

I was thinking last night how amazing it is for me to get away on trips like this. and how necessary they are for my sanity. the moment I step on a plane my mind starts to clear. the weight of all my responsibilities of every day life falling off my shoulders, and being left behind on another continent. hanging out with jay and kellie has just been so great too. I love those guys.  :)  learning from them, hanging out, talking, praying. it’s a good life.

today has been a lazy day. the awful saint john weather seems to have left there and followed me here. it was absolutely pouring out today, so we attempted an adventure, but got as far as going out for “a fry” for breakfast, and decided it was way too disgusting to go anywhere else today. so we’ve spent the day on the couch, curled up in the blankets watching heroes. haha.

we’re going to go out to a show tonight that one of jay and kel’s friends is playing in. so we’ll head out to a pub in port rush and hear some fun music. that’ll make today great.

“what’s the craic?”

I feel like I’ve been here so much longer than I really have already.

but at the same time, I have this horrible habit of keeping myself from knowing the date, so I can’t count how many days I have left, so I’m scared it will come as a shock when I only have a couple days left here.

I love it here. we just got back from painting all 2 stories of jay and kel’s new house that they’re moving into at the end of the month. someone just gave them a house, but it was all run down and had squatters, and crazy druggies in it so the house was an absolute wreck. so kel and jay went in and cleaned it all out, and about 12 or so of us came in today and finished stripping the walls of the offensive colours on the walls (bright red, royal blue, flourescent pink and purple) and had a painting party all night. we started around 6, and just got home a little after midnight. but the walls are pretty much finished! we’ll probably just have to throw a couple more coats on, and then that part will be done.

jay and kel picked up a bunch of pizzas, and pop, blasted some music and we all set off to work. now, at the end of it all, we’re all completely covered from head to toe with paint. literally. some guy (nicknamed dr. phil, because there were 2 phil’s in the room, and this one was a doctor. haha) splattered paint all through my hair and on my face. baha. and then I just gave up trying to be neat and splashed it all over my pants and shirt. haha. oi. but it was a good day. 

kellie and I went out for coffee this morning, and then came home and watched friends while eating yoghurt and granola with tons of fresh fruit in it. it was heavenly. hehe.

and now the two girls sleeping over here need this room to go to sleep in so I gotta get out!! time to so shower, and crack all my creaky old woman bones, hehe.

boa noite!!

life.

the past few days since I’ve been here, I’ve ust been relaxing, working on getting un-jet-lagged, and sliding into the regluar life of my friends. I loving doing life here, and everything that entails. Sleeping in, waking up to sunshine, then going out to coffee with people I’ve never met before, but who are all so welcoming and friendly. and who all have different accents. haha. I haven’t met anyone who has the same accent as the last person. apparently the strong Belfast accent has been mistaken for Gaelic by other travelers it’s so thick, haha. I have yet to hear that one.

The weather here so far has FAR exceeded my expectations. It’s been sunny every single day, with only about 2 minutes of mist one morning. It’s beautiful. Jay and I have been all over the little towns around here, visiting some of his friends, going to markets. My favourite of all these so far has been our visits to see kel and jay’s friend kenny. He’s this really sweet old guy who lives just down the road a bit. I’m not going to write a lot about it here, but you can ask me about it if you really want to know.

Kellie gets home today. She’s been in Dublin at a horse competition. I’m excited.

As far as I know, we still don’t have any huge plans for the coming weeks, but I’m totally fine with that. I’m just enjoying relaxing so much. There are roumors of a trip up this mountain/hill nearby where you can see all 5 counties, where st. patrick spent some time. talk of going to the coast. but most of this “talk” doesn’t register in my brain, because I have no idea what they’re talking about. haha. so it’ll all be a surprise to me! hehe. yahoo!!

I love northern ireland. <3