The end of my journey...

"When I look back at where I've been, I see that what I am becoming is a whole lot further down the road from where I was." -Gloria Gaither

Friday was my last day in Ireland. I went into work for about 4 hours...which absolutely flew by...before I knew it, it was time for me to leave. I really hate goodbyes...I mean, I guess I don't know anyone who loves them. I had to say goodbye to everyone I was working with: Anna, Ruairi, Kevin, and Ewelina. They got me a little goodbye gift, which was really nice! I hugged them all a few times and finally just had to walk out the door. I will surely miss them all so much!

I met my friend Hazel for lunch, then headed over to Marta's house to tell her goodbye. Wow...that was hard! She got me a gift of Polish chocolate, a friendship hanging, and some Turbo Kick music! She has such a kind heart and a fun personality...I will miss her dearly.

I went home and tried to pack more, but got a text from a few other friends...so I ended up going to hang out with them that night. I wasn't done packing when I came home, so I didn't go to bed until 2:30am and woke up at 4 to catch the 5am Patton Flyer to the airport. Mary woke up and drove me there, and I got to the airport around 6am.

I completely overestimated my ability to juggle a backpack, duffel bag, and 2 rolling suitcases...all of them jam-packed full and super heavy! It was a nightmare, but this nice man in the Dublin Airport apparently saw my struggle and helped me carry all my stuff to the correct terminal. He laughed when I said I had only been here 1 month. :) Going through customs and everything was ok, though it was a bit mad at one point when they made me go through the metal detector three times and asked to search my backpack. The guy doing it said he saw a metal rod on the bottom. I was like, "Um...I can tell you that there is not a metal rod in there, but feel free to check!" It ended up being the hinge on my clutch purse, which measures about 3 millimeteres in diameter and is about 6 inches long. Good grief!

All in all, my flights weren't as bad as I was expecting, and the airports were not crowded which was really nice. By the time I got to Houston though, I was really ready to get home! The nice thing about flying from Houston to KC at night on the 4th of July is that we got to see so many fireworks in all different directions as we approached the airport, so that was really neat. Kristin was there to meet me when I got off the plane...I was so happy to see my best friend! All my luggage arrived, and we headed home.

As I have said so many times in this blog...it was an incredible trip and I am so blessed and thankful to have experienced all of it! So many memories were made, people met, relationships developed, and lives changed. Thank you all for keeping me in your prayers and thoughts...and for reading my blog! Now...it's your turn to visit Ireland! :)

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." -Miriam Beard

A wonderful day with friends...

"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way." -Dr. Seuss
"Go forth seeking adventure. Open your eyes, your ears, your mind, your heart, your spirit...and you'll find adventure everywhere." -Wilferd A. Petersen

"May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back...And, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand." -Irish Blessing

Today was so much fun! I worked from 10-2...I had an induction and also taught Spinning for the first time. How was it, you ask? Well, I got through it, but it was tough! However, I find the best way to learn how to do something is to just jump right in, even though it can be terrifying...the first time will always be a bit shaky, but you learn from your mistakes and you only get better. :)

After work, I walked to Marta's house, where we had tea and waited for Ewelina to get off work and join us. We went to a little place called Baker's Corner where we had cappuccino and a delicious dinner. We then got out the GPS and map and made our way into the mountains to Johnnie Fox's, the highest pub in Ireland! It is such an interesting place, lots of things on the walls and ceilings and TONS of history behind the place...it was establisted in like 1798. We had a delicious dessert there called Banoffee, which is a layer of pastry, then toffee sauce, then sliced bananas, then whipped cream on top....fantastic! We went on a little walk after that to try to burn off the calories...ha yeah right, not really :) It was really fun...we took some fun pictures, or tried at least! In the one Ewelina and I are jumping in, there is a car coming around the bend...like really fast...so we tried to do it quickly before we got hit! All in all, it was a wonderful day... so much fun to spend time with friends. :)

Marta dropped Ewelina and I off afterwards... I came home and drank tea and talked with Filippo for awhile. I also had to say goodbye to Luca, as he is heading to Galway for the weekend.: ( I also realized how much I really have to do and how little time I have to do it in...so I better wrap this up now so I can get on all of it. Tomorrow is my last day in Ireland. Crazyness.

Until next time, Cheers!

"The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8

The beginning of the end...

"What we call the end is also a beginning. The end is where we start from." -T.S. Eliot

I really like this quote because I feel like it adequately describes what this trip has been for me. The end is ever so near...I can't believe I actually have to say goodbye...it's been such a fast 4 weeks. However, this trip has taught me so much, more than I can even describe with words...so I know that this end is the start of a new beginning.

How about raindrops on roses? ...simply beautiful. :)

Sunday night, the guys that I met at church invited me over to their house for dinner and prayer and worship. I ended up meeting like 15 of their friends...it was amazing. We just talked, laughed, hung out, and after about an hour, we went around the room and people prayed for many different things. I feel so so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to meet these people..the whole time my heart was so joyful and my spirit felt refreshed by their warm welcome, extreme kindness, and fellowship. After everyone was done praying, Alex asked if they could circle around me and pray for me...of course I said yes! It was incredible...I was choking back tears of joy because they were just pouring love onto me and they hardly even knew me! I'm just sad I have to leave already...but hopefully I'll see them all when I (hopefully!) return in May. :)

I got home around midnight and I had to call Kristin and tell her all about my awesome night! It took me awhile to wind down from the day so I didn't go to bed for a few hours. On Monday, I worked 9 hours but it flew by quickly because we were pretty busy. Since Robert is gone to Poland, I ended up teaching my first fitness class ever. I have taken about a bajillion fitness classes, but this was my first time teaching my own class. I was a bit nervous...ok more than a bit...but I loosened up after about 10 minutes and it was actually really, really fun! By the end, I was sweating buckets but felt amazing! I went home and got to talk on the phone to a friend at Kanakuk...which made me SO SUPER excited to go to Kamp when I get home. I'm so thankful there is something really amazingly fun to look forward to when I get home from here!

On Tuesday, Ruairi was sick, so I ended up working from 11-9:30, though I had a longer lunch break so I went shopping :)...we were really busy again... I had 4 inductions. My last guy was really nice, but he was from Cork...and if you don't know about Cork, their accents are absolutely impossible to understand. Even the Dubliners can hardly understand them...so you can imagine my struggle! It just blows my mind that we speak the same language, yet somehow our words come out so differently! He was really cool though, he was my age and I could tell he was trying to speak slow and deliberately, but I still had to ask him a few times to repeat himself. We laughed a lot and had a great time during the induction...I love it when people are fun. :) Tuesday was Broc's 22nd birthday, so I got to talk to him on the phone when I got home from work. Wow...my little brother is growing up so fast.

Today I worked another 8 hours...I only have 8 hours total left in my internship. Holy Moly. Nothing too exciting happened...I got off at 7 and was able to make it home to eat dinner with Luca and Filippo, usually I have to eat alone because I get home so late. :-/ So right now I am just looking at how much stuff I have accumulated over the past 4 weeks...hoping I can fit it all in my suitcases...thinking of the goodbye notes I still need to write to people...need to do laundry...need to journal...

Tomorrow, I am going to Johnny Fox's Pub with Marta and Ewelina...this is the highest pub in Ireland, up in the Wicklow Mountains! They have Irish dancing and singing every day, so it should be a really great time. I'm sure I'll have pictures to post afterwards.

Cheers for now...

"He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." -Ecclesiastes 3:11