Oh yeah..I have a blog.

Yes folks, I am still alive, and yes, I am still in Ireland.

I'm sorry it's been so long. I've been living life, and have simply forgotten to write about it. Many apologies.

Here's what I have done since Christmas in a nutshell:

• Welcomed Mom and Dad over for Christmas! We had so much fun together. We also had a blast over at the Kavanaughs for Christmas dinner.  What an amazing family!

Playing with our musical crackers! 



Our chubby little Christmas tree! Santa found us in Ireland!

• New Years with the Clarkes! Highlight of the night was when we made them queso.  They had NEVER heard of queso before...we were stunned.

The Clarke's family friend Nathan loved queso  the most. And for that, we honor him.

These two are the best Champagne openers in the  Ireland.

Liz and I moved into a new apartment overlooking the Salthill prom.  We get to see a sandy beach everyday.  Though it is still way to cold to enjoy it :(

The view from our balcony! See the distant hills of the Burren...

Liz and I went to Cork for a long weekend.  We kissed the Blarney Stone and did some serious shopping at H&M.

Seriously, the break dancing at Blarney Castle has to stop. It's a real problem.

Liz's family came for a week, and we all had so much fun together.  I FINALLY got to two step.  Thank you  Robert! We celebrated Liz's 25th birthday on March 16th, and then we celebrated St. Patrick's Day on March 17th.  My awesome cousin Becca and her friend Jennifer came to visit for Paddy's too! We had so much fun.  Galway was such a great place to be for the holiday.  There was a parade down Shop street, and good Craic everywhere! For those of you that don't know, Craic is a term used here meaning, "fun" or "good times".  I will be having an Irish vocabulary lesson in my next blog.

Yes we are American, and Yes, we are shamelessly tacky on St. Paddy's day

My amazing friend Jen came to spend her spring break with me last week! We had a blast together.  Went to see Bunratty Castle, the Cliffs, Easter with the Clarkes.  It was the perfect week.

Easter egg hunt at the Clarke's place! It's our second home.  We love them so much!

And here we are, I hope I have adequately and quickly updated the world wide web on my life in Ireland for the last few months. A million tiny things happened in between all the big stuff, that I can't even begin to explain.  I am blessed by my coworkers, friends, and "family" over here on a daily basis.  The Lord has more than just allowed me to live here, he has given me a life here.  I miss everyone at home so much, but Galway has become a part of me now.   

I am now officially cold to my bones.  We live in a constant state of being freezing in our apartment.  Yes we could turn on the heater, but we learned from the last electricity bill that it is better to be cold than poor.  So on any given night you will see us shuffling around the apartment wearing multiple pairs of pants, 3 layers of shirts, and a hat of some kind..with a hot water bottle zipped up into your hoodie.  Just another way I am learning to appreciate the way things are at home. It was 80 degrees in Texas last week....I'm not jealous at all....

I leave you now with an entry in my dreamchasing playlist.  This one is a little different.  It is an Irish Ballad that I heard the other day.  I immediately fell in love with it and had to have it.  I can't get enough of this song.  It's just so beautiful.  This is the type of song you can hear in a pub anywhere in Galway when they are playing traditional music.  It is usually sung by an old man with white hair, and a knit cap on.  The bartenders and the musicians will "SHHHHH" everyone in the pub so the ballad singer can be heard.  I think it is simply beautiful.

It makes me stop in my tracks every time I hear it. Enjoy a bit of Ireland wherever you may be in this world.

More soon, 

I promise,

Love,

Lauren