Heading West

Hello dear friends, we meet again.

So much has happened since my last posting! I really should have done one sooner.  Life has been moving fast, and I've barely been keeping up, but it's been amazing.

So to start...I'M IN GALWAY!

Probably not a surprise to most of you...but still. any excuse for a funny animal pic :)
Let me tell you how I got here...

It all started on Monday at 1:00 PM.  or 13:00 for all you Europeans.  I found out that I got the job at the lawyers office in Dublin as a junior law secretary.  I was very flattered, because I honestly didn't think I was going to get it. But right when I found out I got the job, I had this feeling of sadness.  Not because I didn't want the job, it sounds very interesting and I know I would enjoy it, but because I knew that meant I would be staying in Dublin.  Don't get me wrong, Dublin is awesome!  But I came to Ireland to see Ireland, and I had only been in this one city...

So I asked for a few days to think about it.  I told him I would decide by Thursday. Keep in mind this was Monday.  I knew before I said yes or no to the job I needed to see western Ireland and Galway to see how I felt about it.  So after spending a (sleepless) night in a Dublin hostel, I jumped on a train with all my belongings and headed west to Galway.

The whole way I just kept thinking, "Ok Lauren, if you can find a job in two days, then it is ok if you don't take the job in Dublin.  That is your time limit, 2 days. Please God, help me decide what I want."
Let me preface all of this to explain, it is very hard to get a job in Ireland right now.  I am being told that by every Irish person I meet.  So the fact that I even got an office job in Dublin is a big deal, and here I was, a pushy American girl who might possibly turn down a great job.  I just had to have a backup to justify moving to Galway with a job waiting for me in Dublin.

Let me just say God is AMAZING. Seriously and truly amazing.  He is so faithful, he makes his presence known! The second coffee shop I walked into in Galway hired me ON THE SPOT! So bam! I not only got a job in 2 days, I got a job in 20 minutes!!! I can't take any credit for this, it was the big man upstairs working his magic.  I wouldn't have even known about the shop except that the man working the front desk at my hostel told me to go there.

So with a job in tow, I felt so free to roam about the city.  Getting a feel for it and taking it in.  I fell in love that day.  I fell in love with Galway :) It is just so wonderful.  It feels so different from any city I've ever been in.  It is so small, yet has everything you could need.  You can walk anywhere in 15 min.  People are so very nice.  It is a college town, so there are a lot of people my age.  It is a great fit for me.  I've never felt more sure of a city.

After my walk about, I went to this coffee shop I read about online called An Tobar Nua (I still can't pronounce it correctly). And again, the Lord answered another prayer!  I met about 5 girls and a few guys who work there/hang out there a lot, and they immediately became my friends! They are so sweet and funny! Most of them are from America and they are working there or working nearby, but a few are from Ireland.  I also got invited to this to very interesting Bible Study class that night, and we took an in depth look at Romans.  I prayed (and I know many of you have been praying too, Thank you so much!!) for community over here, and I feel like I have found it.  I am going to church with some of them on Sunday.  Sometimes I can't stop smiling...

I had this feeling yesterday walking down the street here, I have never felt so completely blessed before.  I had set a near impossible goal for myself, and the Lord provided.  Nothing is impossible for the Lord.  It just proved that the feelings you get from your gut, the ones that sway your decisions and you don't really know why, you should listen to them.  I have always known I wouldn't set up camp in Dublin, and I didn't know why.  My gut told me that it wasn't going to be my home this year.

Go with your gut people.  Those feelings of wrong and right, those are from the Lord! We ignore them so much because they seem inexplicable, but isn't that what God is?  I mean, I even had dinner last night with my FRIENDS! My friends!!! Can you believe it?! Two blogs ago I was whining about not having eating companions, and a few short days later, I'm meeting friends for dinner.  Thank goodness because I was running out of things to stare at as I awkwardly ate alone.

Ok, I'm done for now. I have so much to say, but I will have to write another blog soon.  So many hilarious Hostel stories to tell.  sheesh...Hostels are weird. But I love them :)

For my next song on my Dreamchasing play list, I am going to go with a tune from my dear friend John Mayer.  I know he's got a lot of haters out there, but hey, haters gonna hate, that's fine.  I love him.  I have always loved him.  And I will always love him.  The man can play the guitar.  The man can write some catchy tunes.  But most importantly (for me) the man can write beautiful words that lull my heart into a coma. 

This one joins us from his new album entitled "Born and Raised".
The song is called "The Age of Worry" and it is wonderful. My favorite line is "Don't be scared to walk alone, Don't be scared to like it".  It reminds me that sometimes you have to do things that don't make sense, and everything tells you to think and to make the safe decision, but you have to take the risky route.  Which is really what this whole blog entry has been about... I also like the catchy little doodeedooodeedoo sound that it starts with. 

And say "Worry! Get out of here"
Until next time my friends,
Lauren
p.s. Pictures will come soon...I promise! I need to upload my new camera stuff onto  my laptop. 

Dublin Ya Fun

I have arrriiiiiiiived! I am sitting in Dublin right now. 

It has been a weird few days. It's strange to actually be here when I've been planning on it for so long.  But  here's whats been happening

I was in Toronto for a week layover. By a week I mean 6 hours, and by layover I actually mean layover. I was so restless I was kinda sprawled on the floor at the Toronto airport.  I enjoyed a chicken Caesar salad in one of their restaurants and I almost choked on it. I had this moment where I thought, "my goodness I'm about to be taken down by a big piece of romaine lettuce. That's so lame." But no worries, I made it through.

Anyway the actual plane ride to Dublin was great! I sat next to this nice Canadian who is spending 3 weeks traveling around Ireland playing the bagpipes with his friend and fellow band member. He kept referring to them as "pipes" and I kept nodding along like it was perfectly normal for him to do this, when in reality my mind was yelling "THAT'S SO COOL YOU BAGPIPIN CANADIAN!" 
-sidenote- anytime I think of bagpipes, this classic Friends scene plays in my head...

and then there's this guy's face.... I love Bagpipes

My happiness as I arrived in Dublin was diminished slightly when the airlines informed me that only one of my bags made it on the plane...the other was arriving the next day on a different flight.  So, because I didn't prepare for this little hiccup,  I was left without uhh....undergarments?  And my interview outfit became a lot more difficult to put together with only half my clothes/goodies.  Anyway, I bought some essentials at this cheap little department store so all was well :)

So now I am here and I have been spending a lot of time with Queva, the girl who is so selflessly letting me stay in her house for a few days.  I had my interview yesterday, and it went very well! I'm really not sure what will happen though. The guy was very nice, but he was interviewing other people as well.

After my interview I went to a little cafe for lunch.  Let me tell you, there is nothing more humbling then when you realize that the majority of your meals in a week have been eaten alone. The realization hits you like a punch to the gut.  This meal started out like that, then finished very differently.  Halfway through my sandwich it started to rain outside.  This woman, in her mid 50's walks in out of the rain and over to me, and just out of nowhere I look at her and say, "please join me!". It seemed so very normal to do this. But I'm so glad I did!

Her name is Cliona, (Like Fiona with a CL..she told me that) and she is the kindest, funniest lady! She has traveled all around the world and did just what I'm doing now, but she went to San Francisco when she was 23.  She was full of funny stories and really great advice. Made me feel a lot better about things.  After she took me on a walk about the city where we ran into many of her friends who also gave me their business cards and were very kind.  You gotta love those Irish.

After I said goodbye to Cliona, and promised her I would text her as soon as I got an Irish phone to tell her I'm alright, I went home to get ready to go to October fest with Queva and her friend Olivia.  What a weird night! It was an insane crowd and everybody danced their heart out.  They play all this American music that you wouldn't expect. Songs that we barely play on the radio anymore, they are all screaming the words with their arms wrapped around each other. I heard the macarena, mambo #5, Greased Lightening, Achy Brakey Heart...my face was a big smile the whole night listening to the cheesy music.



They were better dancers than this. I just want any excuse to share this photo with people.

But...sadly...somebody had to ruin the party.  Sometime during the night a total fartface reached into my purse and stole my Iphone.  I didn't feel a thing, I just noticed it was gone.  Thank goodness they didn't steal my wallet or my passport, which I accidentally forgot to take out :-/ This reminded me of something Cliona had told me earlier.  She said that during her 40ish years in Dublin, she has had 8 cars stolen...EIGHT CARS STOLEN. So, yeah. Don't flaunt your Iphone, and don't buy a car.

Anyway, the night went on and we met some nice guys.  One was named John, and I nearly flipped for joy when he started talking to me about American Football.  He started talking about the Indianapolis Colts and I could have cried. So we became best friends. Except I don't know his last name.  So he was my best friend for the evening.

Today I bought an Irish phone. It is really weird having a different number, even if it is only temporary. 

But these few days have been hard.  Harder than I expected.  I think the problem is, I don't feel like I belong in Dublin.  I don't think I want to stay here.  As cool as it is, it's not for me.  I need a smaller city.  I want to be outnumbered by Irish people, not travelers.  I think I have known this for months, but I didn't know how to live somewhere other than Dublin.  So now I am looking, for real this time, in Galway, and the west coast of Ireland.  That is where I feel called.  So that is where I'm gonna go :)

I decided I am going to finish each post with one of the songs that is on my "Dreamchasing" play list.  This is the play list I listen to when I'm feeling down, overwhelmed, and scared.  Music has been a huge comfort to me over here.  It crosses oceans and borders, and nobody cares you're a stranger when "Sweet Caroline" starts to play over the loud speakers.  We're all just friends.

So here is my first installment of the Dreamchasing play list.  Keep in mind, I am a lyrics person.  I fall in love with lyrics like they were puppies. Weird way to put it, but oddly accurate. This song just makes me feel confident in my decision.  It makes me walk a little bouncier and smile even bigger.  "don't pay no mind to the demons that fill you with fear." Good advice Phil Phil

Phillip Phillips - Home

Well, until the next post.
Love y'all!
-Lauren

What, Where, Why in the World??

So here I am, on the eve of my departure, and I am writing a blog....

I should be learning how to work my new (amazingly awesome) camera, picking out the next book I'm going to read, or stuffing 20,000 packets of Splenda into a space saver bag, but I'm not.  I keep hitting this physical and emotional wall and it is almost paralyzing.  I just stand and stare at things with a bag in my hand, unsure of what to do. 

Then the questions start to flood my brain. Do I really need 6 scarves? I have never lived anywhere but Texas...there are maybe 12 days in a year where a scarf serves a purpose....what is winter? Is work canceled for snow? Will I be able to find ranch dressing?  These are the things that get my heart racing and my anxiety amped. 

I am jumping ahead of myself.  I must explain. 

Tomorrow I am leaving for what I plan to be a year long move to Ireland.  I have a work visa that is good for a year, I have some money saved, and I am going.  I have been reluctantly planning this move for about 5 months now.  I say reluctantly because this was a backup plan that I never planned on using.  I was supposed to graduate college, take my month long backpacking trip around Europe, then settle into a nice job in a nice office building, where I wear slacks and fashionable jewelry every day and of course, get benefits. 

But nothing ever goes according to plan.

I didn't get that elusive "job" I have heard so much about, and what I felt was owed to me.  I had a really hard year of rejection, aimlessness, confusion, anger and boredom.  I just couldn't understand why life was moving on for my friends and classmates, but not me. 

Then one day, while randomly googling things ( I enjoy reading my old google history, it is full of weird 24 hour obsessions like, "how to become a librarian" and "Jonathan Taylor Thomas 2012" ) I stumbled upon a Working Holiday Visa   program for recent college grads.  And, well...it became my backup plan.  You see, while backpacking through Europe with one of my best friends Angela (check out her awesome blog as she travels on The World Race ) I fell in love with Ireland.  The people, with their friendly sarcasm, and the place, full of old, beautiful buildings and picturesque scenery.  It was very different from my hometown of Allen, TX.

So that brings me here.  I applied for the visa, bought the ticket, and boom! I'm leaving tomorrow.  How this happened I'll never know.  This move was God ordained and planned from the beginning, I just know it.  Things have worked out in ways I never could have hoped.  I am filled with fear and hope as I plan my next few weeks of life.  I say next few weeks because I do not know where I will be once I land in Ireland.  Right now I'm thinking Dublin, but we'll see how it goes.  It feels strange to not know what I'm doing next, but I know it is exactly what I need to do...

Here in this blog I hope to share more of what I'm doing on this adventure I find myself on.  Tune in to read about my life overseas and about the ridiculous things that WILL happen to me.  I promise, ridiculous situations follow me around. {Insert magician's assistant story here}. And if you want to leave an encouraging comment, I will read it with a big 'ol smile on my face, because I am a words of affirmation gal.

I am so very scared of all the unknowns that lie before me.  However, I keep finding strength in the timeless words of Julie Andrews...
watch this
and Stewie...

See y'all soon,
Lauren