No Leprechaun's!

So my Ireland adventure was a success. I flew into Shannon where mom and dad and Aunt carol and uncle ed picked me up at the airport. I didn't check any bags so I was out of the airport before actual landing time! Pretty good Ryan air! We wound our way through the Irish countryside- not for the faint of stomach -and got to their "house" around 11:30pm. The next day we headed off to the Cliffs of Moher- it just sounds ominous!! They were gorgeous! Here are just a couple of picks. It was really windy and a few times sprinkled on us but for the most part it was actually quite nice.

Here I am going where I shouldn't:) go figure!!

After the Cliffs we drove along the coast for a few hours just taking in the amazing scenery. I was a little obsessed with the cemeteries- they really do have tons of these Celtic crosses everywhere.

On Tuesday we decided to do the Ring of Kerry but needed a hearty english breakfast to get us going! SO we stopped in this cute little town and ate in a little cafe- really we did not get an english breakfast that morning- just some great scones, bagels, and other breakfast delights.

This is some of the scenery along the ring of Kerry- I took tons of pictures but you get the idea- it's gorgeous!

That night we stopped in Kilarney just to walk around for a bit. This is my favorite store of the night. Great little book store with an upstairs. When I went in books were just crammed everywhere-gotta love it!! When I am old and gray I am going to own a little bookstore in Ireland-decision made!

This is my last day in Ireland. We went to the town of Innis for a little to walk around. This is Dad, Mom and I outside a flower shop.

This is my favorite picture of mom and I. It is in the Bunratty Castle that we went to. They also have an amazing folk park museum where they have brought in homes from all over Ireland. In some of the houses there were actually older women baking bread! Yummy!!

Here's the outside of the Castle.

This was in the Folk park part. They had all these little shops that you could go in and see what they would have been like during different time periods. They also had all of these bike sitting around. They weren't chained or anything. Just propped up against walls and things. To bad the tires were flat or we coulda raced down mainstreet!

So GREAT trip. Makes me want to go back and explore Ireland a bit- and for 35 Euro round trip- Why not?!!!

Heading off to Ireland

Yes- tonight I leave Belgium and head to Shannon, Ireland!! I am so excited- I mean in what world did I ever think I would be going to Ireland to meet my parents and aunt and uncle-Have Carol and Ed ever even used their passports before?

Before I go I figured I would catch you up on the comings and goings of my life:) Cuz I know you are all waiting with bated breath. Ok so I know I told you all that at the end of the summer I went to Germany for a week to take an apologetics class. Here are a few pictures from that class. Kate, Lyndsey and I outside of our classroom. And then a picture from the last day when we made s'mores. It was really hot and in the middle of the day but we had the supplies so we went for it:)

This is a picture of the little town where we were staying. One day a few of us went on a hike. It was quite fun- we even took "senior pictures" The only one I had on my camera was Kate's- so enjoy her "senior picture:)"

The week after we got back from our class was busy spent getting things organized for a semester of activity. Before we did all of that though our YL team headed out to an abbey. Once a month we try to do a solitude day where we go out and spend a few hours of quiet. It is a great time to really weed through all the things going through my head and have really good time with the Lord. The abbey that we go to is gorgeous. Here are just a few pictures of it.

And finally-we went to a fun concert downtown that same week. Rue Royale is a husband and wife band. Liesl had met them in the states through a good friend of hers and so she was very excited to go see them. So Liesl, Fiona and I went downtown to watch them play at a little bar. They really were great! Here we are at the concert and then a picture of the band.

Well that's all for now- I think that's enough! I will have more news once I get back from Ireland!! Oh yeah- one other fun thing that I do not have pictures of-Friday night one of the International schools had an under the lights football game- pretty fun!!! American football under the lights in Belgium!

Meeting a fellow blogger!

Crazy story! On Monday I was walking out of the office around 4pm. I had the Boer boys with me and we were ready for a crazy afternoon- we had to go to the Brown's house(where I am staying this week while their parents are out of town) to make sure Nate got in Ok and then take the Boer's home and get Ricky ready for soccer and take him to soccer and then go back to the Brown house. Fun times!! So anyway back to the story- I was walking out of the offices(which are on the ISB campus) and a woman stops me and knows my name. At first I assume she was at church on Sunday-because I stood up and gave and announcement for WyldLife. But then she tells me she recognizes me from my blog! You know how on blogger you can hit the "next blog" button at the top- well she hit that button at some point last year and found my blog. Apparently at the time her family was getting ready to move to Belgium so she kept up with it. And now her family is here!! She said she never thought she would actually meet me but what a small world we live in!! Here is Julie's blog http://thebiasiblog.blogspot.com/ if you wanna check it out. What a fun day!!

Girl's night in Antwerpen

Ok so these pictures are quite small I know but I stole them from Celine's facebook so I can not help the size. But you can click on them to make them bigger I think- yeah go ahead and try! Friday night me and Liesl took the train to Antwerpen to meet up with Celine. She was done being a doctor for the week and so we thought it would be fun to meet up for dinner and then drive back to Brussels with her. We ended up finding this amazing little restaurant. It was all brick and stained glass. And they had this awesome piano guy playing live music. It was so lovely. We just sat around and chatted for quite a while because the atmosphere was so nice. Then we left there and walked around the place for a bit and went and got a hot chocolate-love that they serve it with a little cookie and piece of chocolate! MMMMmm -come visit and you can have some too- hint hint!!

Rest of August

I know!! I know!! everyone is telling me I need to update this thing. And as much as I stalk other peoples blog you'd think I would be on top of mine- but alas I am not! Here goes. The summer ended up being so much better than I imagine on my return to Belgium. I really got to know some fun people and enjoy being in Europe. It still amazes me how I would show up to a reseraunt or shop and there would be a sign posted saying they were close for a month- I mean these europeans know how to do it right! It's not all about making all the money you can possibly make- they actually take time to enjoy their lives. Oh yeah- and the Olympics- I mean I am generally obsessed with them so i spent many an hour over at my bosses house watching their cable TV-it was a bit sad having to watch the BBC version because part of what I love is all the back stories on the athletes and they only gave us British back stories. But even they loved Phelps which was fun! Then. . .

From August 15-19 I took 7 boys and 2 high school leaders to Wyldlife camp in Wales. It was a lot of fun-along with a lot of rain and a lot of sheep poo! I don't think I have ever done laundry so fast as when I got back from camp-it all smelled like sheep! Not that the middle school boys even noticed or said anything.

After camp I had a day to sleep-Yeah - and a day to pack before heading off to Germany to take an apolgetics class. It was really fun because 2 friends who live and do ministry in Madrid flew in here and we drove down together. It took us about 7 hours to get there. I hadn't done a road trip by car in a while so it was really fun to be crammed in a car, laughing with great friends. The class was amazing and it was great time with friends. We had some great conversations about why we do the things we do. It really opened my eyes to that fact that I do and think so many things purely based on the culture that I grew up in and not necissarily because that is how it is supposed to be in Christ. Again it amazes me that I get to study these things as part of my job. I will try to post some pics from the week once I get them on my computer.

So things are in full swing here-I will try to update more often!!

Day in Cologne

Yesterday I decided to take a day trip to Germany. At first I thought I would go to Bonn. We had a basketball game there last year and stayed overnight outside the town and I wanted to explore it a little. But after looking at it I decided that Cologne was just a little closer and possibly a bit more historic so that's where I set off to. I mappy'ed the directions and left around 8:30 AM-knowing it would take 2 hours to get there. I followed the general directions and then signs to "Koln zentrum" and just parked in the first lot I came to. I HATE driving and parking in the city- any city. I didn't have a map or any idea where the public transport was so I just followed some people- hoping the would be heading toward the center too. Sure enough they led me to a metro stop. So I took the metro to the regional train hub- figuring that there would be a tourist info somewhere nearby. See how smart I am becoming in my old age:) Sure enough- as soon as I came out of the metro- there was the wonderful "i" for information! I bought a 20 cent map. Before I went anywhere I checked out the goregous cathedral that was in the main square. Here's a picture of the outside. Just a little history- it is a gothic style cathedral that was built from 1248-1880, yes that means ittook over 600 years to complete. And it was the world's tallest structure until the Washington monument was built- pretty amazing!

Then I wandered off to see what I could find in this city that was founded in the year 38 BC. And wouldn't you know that I found that oldest of all shop- STARBUCK'S- so of course I had to get my frapp since we can't in Belgium.

Then I walked over to the Rhine. When I traveled to Europe back in 99 me and my friends Pam took a boat tour down the Rhine to see some of the amazing castles along there. This time I just took it in from land.

Then I began to walk to some things labeled on my 2o cent map. It said there were some medievil parts of a wall. The map, however, was slightly decieving and I had to walk quite a ways to get there. But it was worth here. He is one of the old city gates. Pretty cool- just sitting there in the middle of a shopping area.

Here is me and the guy i affectionately call "statue man." He was guarding one of the ruins-I think he was kind of a slacker though cuz he looks like he's sleeping!

Here's another gate in another part of the city.

Oh and wouldn't you know- that they make cologne in Cologne. I am sorry but NO I did not buy any- I will have to save that for another trip.

For dinner I went to the Hard Rock- I know -I am a sucker for corporate America but free refills on soda and a real hamburger- REALLY!! It was great- I had brought one of the books I have to read for my class this month so I just relaxed, drank my refills of soda, read, and enjoyed the music!

Towards the end of the day I was a bit hot and my feet were tired so I sat in a park and there was this crazy guy singing. Thought you might enjoy him:)

After all of the exploring I headed back to the Starbucks to use the restroom. I thought I would just head home but then I saw these comfy chairs upstairs and this lovely Jazz music was playing and there were window views of the square. . . so I sat for about 45 minutes and again pulled out my book to read and began to wonder why Brussels has no chill coffee shops where one can just go and listen to jazz and read. Maybe that will be YL's next adventure here- a coffee shop!:) and I don't even drink coffee!!!

Terrace and more exploring

Ok so in one of my last blogs i mentioned that I had some friends over a few weeks back and we sat on my terrace until pretty late at night. While we were out there they mentioned that I need to get some lights for when it gets dark. Well I do not have any outlets out there so i was trying to figure something out. Well then I went to a friends house last Monday and she gave me a bunch of free stuff(they were moving back to the states). So as i was going through her stuff i saw christmas light-PERFECT I thought!! So I got some nails and hung those lights. But then I needed some cushioning for the chairs- cuz they're a little hard. So i found some and some fun little battery lanterns. So here is the final product. First with the flash.

Then what it really looks like at night- looking back toward my apartment.

Then looking out toward the view.

I must say that last night I spent some time out there reading by my little oil lantern- it is great!
I also said in my last blog that I am trying to explore Brussels and get to know it a little better. Yesterday I did another couple of hours of walking around the city. This time I started in a familiar area- by the Merode metro stop but went in a new direction. I ended up finding this great park not too far from Cinquentanaire. Brussels has so many cute little parks tucked away everywhere.

From there I just kind of headed downhill- not really knowing where that would lead. I ended up walking through this great park of town- a little seedy but it had great little groceries-anything from turkish to carribean to african. So now I know where to go when I want something special. I also found my new favorite window- I mean who wouldn't want to live here!

Eventually after some more exploring I ended up at the beach that they bring into Brussels every summer. Down by the water-not that you would ever go in the water(too nasty)- they bring in truck loads of sand and set up all kinds of food stalls and things for people to do. Here is the "boat" that you can walk through to get in.

And in case you didn't know- Newcomb crosses international boundries- they were playing it here!

So I was pretty tired and hot so I decided to sit by the "beach" and water and grab something to eat at one of the stalls. I got some thai food- a huge take away container full for only 5 euro!! and sat and ate. I have to say the view was a little sad- about every 5 minutes a barge with coal would come down the river. Pretty cool though- they all had a car on the top- which means that people live on them! But it was nice to just be outside in the hazy sunshine:)
So after walking for about 5 hours I headed back home pretty tired but again glad that I spent some time exploring.