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