Home

So the whole coming home process was draining in every sense of the word. Emotionally, I cried far more than I expected and used one too many people as my own personal tissue. Physically, I was exhausted. I had 2 1/2 hours of sleep before my flight home and I didn't sleep at all on the 7 hour flight. Boy howdy, did I try but alas, I could not. Mentally, my thoughts were conflicted and left me either happy and smiling or sad and crying. The most random thought could trigger one or the other. The only good part about coming home and going straight to a graduation party was that my whole family was there so all the questions happened all at once; I'll use any excuse I can get to mention Ireland and my Irish friends!

My daily routine as of the past two days is: waking up, eating breakfast, walking to Wawa with Jess, running some type of errand, and then some nighttime activity. Monday, it was the Phillies game. Tuesday, it was frisbee in Rose Tree park then Dairy Queen. Tonight will probably be sitting around doing nothing...If only I could make a Dunnes run for a roll...

14 days.

About 4 months ago on January 6th I blogged about how I had 2 weeks exactly until I left for Ireland. To save you the trouble of going back and reading that post, I talked about how I was preparing myself to leave, packing, etc. That seems like a lifetime ago. But here I sit, another 14 days away from something and I have to say I'm not looking forward to the end of this countdown. Not even a little bit. I have not even thought about packing and am considering waiting until the Saturday before I leave to do it...this could have so many negative effects, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Don't get me wrong, I am super excited to see my family and friends back home but at the same time, I don't want to leave Ireland; mainly the people I have met. I've been dreading the day when I have to look everyone in the eye, say goodbye, and give them a final hug until I see them again. The hardest part will be the fact that I don't know the next time I will see the majority of them after I say goodbye. It's very up in the air. Even the ones I know I will see again this summer or next school year, I'll still be a blubbering mess saying goodbye. I'm fairly certain of this fact and I am giving everyone plenty of notice. Okay well, this is as sentimental as I'm going to get on a public site for the time being. The real good stuff...the meat and potatoes, if you will, will happen the day before I leave or when I'm back home in good ol' Delaware County. Again, fair warning to all you people who have high emotional reactions.

On a happier note, I found twenty-some dollars in one of my wallets. Doesn't do me much good right now but OH, when I get back to America, I am going to tear Wawa a new one with that twenty-some dollars. Wawa hoagie and peach iced tea? Yes please.



As you might suspect, this has nothing to do with Ireland other than I was in Ireland when I found this on todaysbigthing.com That site is a gold mine, people! Basically, this picture is meant to lighten the depressing mood. Necessary? Probably not. Strange/Random/Hilarious? Absolutely. Enjoy! :)

20 Days...

Until I leave.





Um, what?

I play Ultimate because I am awesome

I'm just going to come right out and say it: joining the Ultimate Frisbee team has been the absolute best decision I have made while in Ireland. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world. The people I have met on the team are some of the greatest people I have encountered. I have made lifelong friends with them. Since I'm choosing to write letters to most, if not all, of the members of the team, I'm forcing myself to think of the day when I have to finally say goodbye to them all and leave our next meeting up to fate. As one might imagine, this is a depressing experience but it has to be done and I'm trying to make the best of it. They have become my family over here; teaching me about Ireland and the culture every day and looking out for my SMC friends and I. I can not thank them enough and find it quite difficult to put into words exactly how much they all mean to me. Hopefully this post (and the letters) can give them all some insight. So to the frisbee team, if you're reading this, thank you all for everything! Can we make this last month and 3 days insanely mind blowing? That would be just GRAND.

"Can I live here!?"- Aran Islands

Our last Saint Mary's trip (and bus ride with Eugene) was to the Aran Islands. We left on Friday afternoon and stayed over night in a hostel. The next morning we woke up and headed for the Cliffs of Moher. They were, in short, epic. There really aren't any other words to describe them...perhaps beautiful and enormous would work too.

This one is for you, mom!




The most exciting part for me was when we actually arrived on Inishmore and rode bikes to the beach. I was reunited with the Atlantic Ocean and boy howdy have I missed it! We probably spent close to two hours on the beach. My second favorite part of the whole trip was the heart-to-hearts a friend and I would have. We would sit on a stone wall that faces Galway Bay and the view was just beautiful. I would have been completely fine with spending the entire trip sitting on that wall and looking at that view.

Natalie visits Ireland and epicness ensues.

I suppose it's about time to update this!


Natalie and I enjoying some Rocky Road bars on Easter. Happy Easter to us!

So about a month ago on March 31st I turned 20 (and my parents celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary)! I received the best present I could have hoped for besides my family and it came in the form of Natalie Burkart! She and Laura arrived from Rome for their 10-day long visit around 3pm. Kelly and I went to meet them at the Maynooth train station and it was probably the cutest reunion I've ever been a part of. That night, we had a taco extravaganza for dinner. My lovely flatmates joined my friends and I for dinner! Bless their hearts, they decorated with balloons and got me a cake! It was so sweet and I really appreciated it. Overall, it was a good night even though some people could not attend/went M.I.A. For the rest of Natalie's visit we kind of just hung around and enjoyed the time together. I can not tell you how much I enjoyed sharing a room with someone again...I miss my roommates! Natalie and I watched some much need roommate movies (but not Forrest Gump...what is THAT about?) and relished in the fact that we didn't have anything to do academically. The whole week with Natalie was fantastic. It felt like we were back in South Bend again. If only our ginger, clarinet-playing roommate and our little athlete could have visited too. It would have been the absolute perfect week filled with roomie bonding. On that note, Holy Cross Room 222 next year is going to be INSANE. CLOSESTS! WINDOWS! ETC.! I will see you all before you know it!

A video we recorded on Easter:

Howth is magic

On the first Saturday of Natalie's visit a group of SMC girls traveled to Howth in Co. Dublin. I was beyond excited to see a large body of water and beach. The whole day was perfect. It was a bit chilly but fairly sunny and everyone enjoyed themselves. We saw some seriously beautiful sights. Ireland never ceases to be beautiful and I fall a little more in love with it every day. We did a cliff walk while in Howth and while it was extremely tiring and I doubted we would ever see road again, it was incredibly rewarding. I also really appreciated the wind. I don't know why or when it happened, but I developed a love for wind...it's so strange but I can't explain it so basically, I really enjoyed the gale force winds that were happening on the cliffs.