Happy Happy Happy!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. It's been crazy busy. Also life is more "normal" here in the states and I'm not going to exciting places that no one else has gone to. We are having a great time. I didn't think that when we came back to America for a visit that I would be this happy. Well, I was kind of hoping I wouldn't be this happy. It has been wonderful being able to drive around, shop, and even grocery shopping.  My husband has been working like crazy doing different jobs to help save up for the next year of bills we still have here in the states. We've been able to see more friends and the great grandparents are up from Florida so we've been able to see them. Now we're waiting for my mom to come from Colorado in a few weeks.

The visa has been processed. I can't tell you what a relief it is to have it all done. I sent it priority mail to the UK Home Agency last week and had it in my hands by the end of the week. The only thing that is really weird is that they didn't give me any other paper work except for the visa that is pasted in my passport. I'll have to call them when we get back to figure out how much I can work and how much. But it's DONE! Months of worrying and it's all done. The visa is for two years and after those two years I can apply for it again and hopefully get it for an indefine time.

We have a nice quiet weekend ahead with friends and then another busy week hanging out. Now I'm watching the wedding and enjoying watching  part of history. We have been taking loads of pictures, but my husband forgot the card to put them on our computer, so I'll have to wait until we get back to Ireland to post more pictures. However, I did get an iphone from R's uncle L to use as an ipod so I was able to take some pictures of us hanging out.

Walking around in the backyard in her wellies!

Enjoying Sabbath School

Watching some hockey

oíche mhaith

Thoughts on "home"

I thought that when we flew into the States I would feel right at home and back to normal. Nope. When we were flying into Portland and especially Newark I already missed the green fields and small towns. Can someone who has lived in one place for 29 years and another for 5 months really get that attached to a new place? Maybe it was because I had told my brain that, "no,we're not just visiting Ireland, we're living here" that it started to replace the familiar with the foreign.
We've now been here a few days and I'm hoping these feelings start to go away. I'm also afraid that if I enjoy my time here to much and get comfortable it's going to be even harder to go back to Ireland and I'll have to start over mentally again.  You just don't realize how much you really miss "home" until you've been welcomed back with open arms.
We've also hit the ground running. It's been nice to be busy everyday.  We haven't been at the house at all during the day. We arrived Saturday and tomorrow will be the first day we don't have any plans, well during the day anyways. It's been so nice to see my friends again and to talk and socialize like a normal adult. One thing I do worry about is that I'm bitching too much to my friends. I'll probably get it out of my system after this first week, it's been building up for 5 months (ha ha). If I do please let me know. However the worst experience so far of this whole trip was my first trip back to Wal-Mart. Now I hadn't thought I had gained any weight since I left, just stayed the same. However an older woman at Wal-mart decided to ask me when I was due. This has never happened to me before (while not pregnant) and I thought I was going to burst into tears right there. However I laughed it off and made her feel really bad about asking. Yes, I haven't been gung-ho about exercising and I'm not what I wanted to look like when I got back to everyone, but no reason to ask if I'm pregnant. Why is that older woman feel the need to comment on other people. While I was pregnant older women processed to tell me how "big" I was and didn't believe I was only have one child. You won't get that in Northern Ireland thats for sure. (Well here's hoping)

Enough of my rant and ramblings. It's been great being "home." Can't wait to see more of you! O has fallen right back into the swing of things. In fact she's been awesome. We've had her out and about everyday with little to no nap and she's had such a great time. I am going to feel awful when we take her away from all her friends here. But we won't talk about that anymore.

***Pictures to come once I can get them off my camera.*************
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Yes, that is my baby crying on the plane. (Back in the USA)

Well I'm here, safe and sound. After our visitors left last week, we were in full pack mode. I also was fully consumed with filling out the visa form. Let me tell you that it was not a fun process at all and I'm still working on it. The worst part of all of it was they don't tell you what you need for supporting documents until you submit the application online and you can't set up your appointment for the biometrics until you also submit online. Both of these could have been a huge problem because I had to submit in America when all our documents were in the UK and who knows if I'd get a biometric appointment soon or even in Maine. All of this was a complete stress while we were packing.

Then came travel day. I'm going to everyone a word of advice, if you are flying with an infant on your lap that is over a year old and the flight is more then 4 hours, pay the extra money to get them their own seat. Not only was the day very long as we started traveling at 9:30 am GMT (4am here) and didn't finish until 12:30 pm GMT, but being with O on our laps for a 6.5 hour flight almost put me over the edge. She is on the constant move and gets bored very quickly. We had to wait about 45 minutes just to check into the Belfast airport and then run through security and do a quick grab of food before we boarded immediately. So O was already getting tired and bored while we waited in lines in her stroller. It was a completely full flight so no extra seat next to us. Luckily we had a nice guy about our age sit next to us that O kept flirting with the whole time. The plane did have the individual touchscreen TVs in the back of the seat in front of you, but that still wasn't enough to keep O entertained. Plus she got overtired so everything made her cry and she was very hyper. Finally about 3 hours in she fell asleep and we got an hours peace. After she woke it was just as bad. I would also like to mention that the flight crew on our flight to Newark was horrible and you could totally tell that they didn't like their job at all.

Once we landed in Newark we had to go through security and then collect our luggage just to give it back again. Then we had to check into airport security again to get back to our connecting flight. All this would have been ok, if we didn't have a bored, hungry, tired baby. They even make you take the infant shoes off. Again if you have to fly with an infant and you're flying on your own, I would practice folding up the stroller if you're taking, one handed holding the baby. Also pack lots of snacks or get food at the airport cause snacks are the easiest way to keep them quiet and happy for longer period of times.  Anyways, after the hour getting in and out of security we had another 2 hours to burn, so we bought expensive, crappy food and let O run up and down the powered walkways. Luckily the flight from Newark to Portland was just over an hour cause we were all at the end of our rope. She was the only baby so of course when she cried everyone I'm sure rolled their eyes. We did walk up and down the aisle about 5 times just so she could try and charm everyone. Everyone did think she was adorable so that made her crying not so bad.

Our friends, C & B picked us up and they are so happy to have us home with them and to see us. O has settle right back into life into their house. (We stayed at their house for 4 weeks before we left for N.I) They have two cats so she is constantly chasing them. I'm wondering when it's going to get old, but it probably won't. We've had a lovely morning. I was finally able to submit the visa so everyone please pray for a smooth process. Out of the two problems I mentioned at the beginning, I was able to make the appointment for biometrics early this week in Maine, so that's great. However, there are some random documents that I left in NI that R's parents will either have to copy or overnight them.

I am looking forward to seeing most of you very soon. I'll be at Brunswick church next weekend but have plans afterwards. We're going to try and get a cellphone number so you can contact us, but if you want the house number where we're staying, just let me know.

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The Northern Coast

On Wednesday we took A & D up to do the northern coast tour. You start at Port Stewart/Port Rush and end at the Bushmill's Distillery. We had decided to do the tour Wednesday because it was supposed to be nicer of all the days of the week. It started out rainy, but the weather people told us that it would blow over and be sunny by early afternoon. However, that wasn't the case. The sun didn't come out until much later by the time we were all exhausted.

Port Stewart/Port Rush are small coastal towns that get very crowded in the summer. Port Rush has a small carnival park in it. A comparison would be a smaller Old Orchard Beach. We did a drive by and then went to Dunluce Castle. I love walking around the castle. It's all in ruines, but it's right up against the cliffs and you can just feel the history around you. After Dunluce we went to Giant's Causeway. It would have been nice except it was cold, wet and rainy. We took the bus down to the rocks, stayed for about 15 minutes and then left and went straight to Bushmill's Distillery. And of course the sun came out as soon as we finished the tour. R and D took the tour because we couldn't take little O on the tour. A and I sat in the small restaurant feeding O chips and hanging out. It was really nice to hang out with friends again. After the tour we went to Coleraine to walk around the shops for a wee bit and then headed home for dinner. Bed time was early that night for everyone.

Below are the pictures from the day. I promise I won't give too much history.

This is looking down on Dunluce castle. It is believed that it was built by an Anglo Norman and then it was occupied by a Scottish chieftain. 



O with her Daddy outside Dunluce Castle. We didn't stop and take any pictures of Port Stewart/Port Rush. But I know we'll be going there in the summer, so you'll see the towns I'm sure



Another view of the castle. If you want more information, you can go to the their website, http://www.northantrim.com/aboutdunlucecastle.htm



The coolest thing about this castle it is built flush to the cliff side. While the last occupants lived their the kitchen fell into the ocean.




The gate house




This is Giant's Causeway. The rocks are made up of basalt and have broken into perfect hexagons. There is a legend behind why it's called Giant's Causeway, but it would be a little too long to right and I can't remember the names of the characters, let alone spell them.



Part of the edge of the rocks.

A look down the coast line.

This is the Bushmill's Distillery. Built in 1608 it is one of the oldest whiskey distillerys. I have done the tour before, but since we have the baby with us, A and I decided to just hang out at the cafe and have a pint and some chips (french fries)

Me and the babe at Dunluce Castle.

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Trip to Dublin and visitors

Well our American visitors are here safe and sound. Tuesday afternoon my husband and I drove down to Dublin. It takes about 2.5 hours to get there, well it would if you didn't get lost. We missed our exit because we did not trust our GPS or we like to call her GLADOS. (this is because we think she is out to get us). Luckily unlike Maine if you get lost you can always take the next road up and head in the same directions and eventually the roads will met up.

We stayed at R's aunt's house M and her husband X. (Yes his first name starts with the letter X.)  We got there much later then we had expected so we didn't get to hang out with the kiddos. Plus we had to get up at 4:30 in the morning so it was early to bed for us.



Breakfast cafe on the second floor



A & D arrived at 5:20 am. Of course when we got to the airport we couldn't find out which terminal they were at since they just built a new one. We parked at one and ended up having to walk almost half a mile to where they were waiting. We had planned to head into Dublin so that D could meet someone at Trinity College for his work. Now, I am going to preface this with R and I really don't like Dublin. It's too crowded, has a horrible one way system and is just like any other big city. So driving into the city at 6 in the morning with little to no sleep and getting lost was not a great start to the day. We did end up finding a parking garage, but of course it was an expensive one and off the beaten path. When we did try and walk down Grafton St to find a breakfast place it started pouring and we didn't have umbrellas.  We went into the first hotel we saw and it wasn't open and when it did open it was WAY TOO expensive. Finally we found a small cafe over a newspaper stand and got a good full breakfast for an okay price. Everything in Dublin is expensive: parking, food, and shops.  I would recommend if you ever come to Ireland, just fly into Dublin and head straight out of the city. The rest of Ireland is wonderful and beautiful. Also the people are much nicer when you get out of Dublin as well.

D was going to meet the person at 10, however, we finished breakfast at 7:30 and had nothing really to do until then. We did end up parking close to the college even though we had no idea where we were. We walked around the college and then sat down in a small coffee shop and tried to wait it out. The rain had stopped and the sun had come out, but we were really too tired to walk around the city. So by 9 am we were done. D just ended up emailing the college and explaining the situation. It was nice to leave the city. It was a quiet drive back with us getting home around 1 pm. We then all took a nap and just hung out at the house until we went to bed early.



A view of a Dublin street



One of the buildings at Trinity College

On Wednesday we went up North to the Giant's Causeway, Bushmills and Dunluce Castle. Those pictures will be coming tomorrow. Today we're headed up to Belfast to go shopping. 

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The quintessential Irish experience!

I want to tell you all about the most wonderful time R and I had last night. His uncle L invited us to go see some traditional Irish musicians last night in a small pub. Now to kind of set up the story, L is in his own band called Beoga. They are considered a traditional Irish band, but their music always has a lively twist (Beoga means lively in Gaelic). If you're interested in seeing them or hearing their stuff you can go to http://www.beogamusic.com/. Because he is in a band he knows who to see and where, and I would say an in to the music scene. Anyways.....

The bar was in the middle of nowhere, literally. In fact we got lost trying to find it.The gig started at 8:30, but we didn't arrive til about 9:40. We left late anyways, but we added an extra 15 minutes due to our detours through the dark country side. When we did finally find the pub it looked more like a house then a bar. One story with what looked like a barn and a house attached. When we walked in, it was wall to wall people. It wasn't very big mind you, but I would say about 120 people squeezed into the size of our old apartment. The band was in the corner playing. There was a bodhrán player (Irish drum) and fiddle/bango player, a guitarist and an accordion. They were called the Mairtin O'Connor band. Mairtin was the accordian play, Jim Higgins the bodhrán player, Seamie O'Dowd the guitarist and singer and Cathal Hayden was the fiddle/bango player. It would be an understatement to say these guys were good. In fact L and his band mates who were there told me that Cathal and Mairtin would be the best of their instruments in all of Ireland. Just last week they were playing in the Sydney Opera house and this week they're in a tiny pub. The music they played was powerful and moving. Some songs would start out slow and end in a lively reel. Others had you in almost in tears they were so sad and moving. They did have a musical guest, Dom Stiffe, who was a finalist in the All Ireland talent show. He's from Galway and sang and play guitar.

The band and the crowded pub

These pictures came from the phone. Regretted not bring my camera the whole time we were there.

What made this night the quintessential experience was that during the break in the music, sandwiches were handed out to everyone there, as if everyone was family. The fiddle player, Cathal got behind the bar and help serve drinks. (His dad owns the pub but now the sons are running it. Funny enough the pub is called Hayden's Bar) After the break they played a few more songs. Cathal's brother then got up and joined in with his fiddle as well. He was very good as well. It was Mairtin's and Seamie's birthday so a cake was brought up with candles for them and then cake was passed around. The night ended shortly after midnight with everyone catching up over their last pint.  I feel extremely lucky to see such talented musicians in such an intimate setting. L told us that there were a few other musicians there enjoying the experience.  It was a great night and I hope to have a few more like it. I know Beoga will be playing there in June, so I'm looking forward to seeing them again and sharing the night with you all.

Here's a wee video we took from R's phone. The quality isn't very good, but it gives you an idea of what we heard last night.

Now I must get ready while the babe is asleep. R and I head down to Dublin tonight to pick up our first American visitors. I really can't wait to see them. However it's going to be a long day tomorrow because they're landing into Dublin at 5:20 in the morning. Luckily we're staying at his Aunt's house near the airport so we don't have to get a hotel or leave at the 3 am from Tobermore. It will be nice to Aunt M and her french husband X. They have two kids, cousin R who's almost 5 and A who's 1 year older then O. Anyways, after we pick A & D up from the airport we're headed straight into Dublin city to go to Trinity college and the book of Kells. D is going to meet someone for his job. I'll tell you all about it this week. We've got lots of stuff planned so my blogs will be more frequent and packed full of more history!!
Hope you all have a good week!

Here are a few links to each of the band members.
Mairtin O'Connor http://www.taramusic.com/biogs/mocbg.htm
Cathal Hayden http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/50949ee6-6b96-4e6f-8f4e-08570018f806
Jim Higgins: http://www.armaghpipers.org/artists/jimHiggins.html
Seamie O'Dowd: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamie_O'Dowd



Mairtin and Cathal. Picture courtesy of the internet.



Picture courtesy of : http://www.myspace.com/mairtinoconnorband

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Derry (Warning!!! History lesson!!!)

We took a trip to Derry or Londonderry. We pretty much did the same thing as yesterday. Had lunch, walked around the city and then met my MIL again.  Except Derry has so much history right under your feet. I'll tell you the history and walk you through our day with pictures!

Glenshane pass on our way to Derry

Center of Derry



Shipquay St. On of the steeper streets. It's wicked it walk up it. You can smell the burning clutch from all the people who can't do a hill start.



Lunch! Took a while to find a sandwich shop that had a high chair. It was nice for another girls day out.

Eating chicken!

The view outside the shop. The old walls of Derry. I know I've mentioned them when we went to Derry for St. Patrick's day.



This is what the wall looks like from the top. You can walk the entire thing.

St. Augustine's church. It was one of the orignal churches in the city on a monastry site. It became too small for the population so they built St. Columb's Catherdal which you'll see later on.



Just as a helpful guide. When it says plantation settlers it means the lowland Scottish farmers the English government brought in to try and slowly convert the Irish population or "conquer". However Ulster, one of the 4 proviences of Ireland was the most heavily or strongly Catholic.  The history in Northern Ireland is a long and bloody one after the plantation settlers came over.

Graveyard of St. Augustine's church.

O was very good again today. Didn't whine at all. I can't believe how good she was. Also I can't believe that I would ever have to use sunscreen in March, lets hope it stays this way for a while.

A canon used on the battlements.

This is looking down at Bogside. Bogside is where the Catholic population lived in Derry since William of Orange took over. As I said before the history in NI is tragic. It has filled hundreds of books and is too much for me to tell even a wee bit of it . The mural on the building is one of 11 that show the history of the troubles since the beginning.

A broader view of the Bogside. This is also where Bloody Sunday took place as well.

Another look at the wall from the defending side.  This is looking down at Bogside.

A map of the walled city. It looks much bigger than it really is. I would say it's about a quarter to  half a mile across from the middle.

Each gate is marked by their name. They all had signs with the history behind each name.

Derry is a very hilly city. This is one of staircases I had to carry the stroller up and down. Walking around the walls with one of those is the best work out ever! I seemed to be the only one with a stroller on the wall. So I either stood out like a tourist or was just a crazy local.





The front of St. Columb's Cathedral. It looked they're restoring the whole thing. I can't wait until it opens.

Another part of the wall. There were only two of these turrets.  It did look like much of the wall was restored. The Butcher Gate had been rebuilt.

This was taken from the other side of the wall looking at the Waterside. This side is the Protestant side. As you can see by the mural, there is still is some tension.

The west bank





Another look at the wall coming down the hill.

This is the Tower Museum. I'm dying to find out the history. Will try and take our friends here when they come to visit us next week. Luckily one of them is a history major too!

Going back up the hill

Posing in front of the American tourist and the walking tours. I heard alot of American accents today. I hate to say this, but we stick out like sore thumbs when we travel, unless you're "disguised" by a local family like I have been. I will say that living in Europe will change your dress. I just have to take less pictures and then I won't stand out as much.

This is a hidden side street. It's called the Derry Craft center and connects Shipquay St to the where I took the picture of going up the hill. If you stay within the walls it's very easy to learn where to go in Derry. 

I would love to live in a area like this. It was quiet and just had such a quaint feeling.

Thought this was funny. It's the cafe you see in the first picture of the craft center. Why it was called Boston Tea Party I have no idea. Either to attract tourist or because America was able to kick the British out. I love that is says American muffins. Didn't realize there was a big difference.

 It was a great day today all around. Another sunny day! After my MIL got done where her meeting, we went and got a cup of tea and biscuits and walked around one of the shopping centers, or what we would call a "mall". Did pick up a parenting magazine. I'm sure I'll be telling you all the differences I found. Anyways O fell asleep on the way home. All the sun and fresh air wore her out. Tomorrow I'll be getting the house ready for A & D then a nice quiet weekend until they get here.

oíche mhaith