It's already December??

Is it December already??
Time definitely flies by when you're having fun and apparently I'm having too much since I haven't written a blog in awhile.

The last weekend I went to cork with Helena and Julie because Helena has been dying to see the ring of Kerry. So we decided it had to be a 2 day trip because the tour was like 10 hours. So we arrived in Cork Saturday evening and trekked the long mile from our bus to our hostel and while we were checking our wifi we met this French guy named Beltran and we all got to talking and I got him to agree to be our tour guide for the night. I don't think he really understood me because he really only spoke French and Spanish but the other girls explained it to him!

Before we went out that evening we went to the city center and we're delighted to see all the Christmas lights and decorations throughout the city center it got me so excited for Christmas! We took loads of pictures and walked around and the grabbed dinner and headed back to the hostel to get ready. When we were ready to go we texted Beltran and met up with him at a near by pub where he had other French friends waiting. We hung with them the whole night but basically I was just laughing the whole time because I couldn't understand a word they said.

The next morning we got up super early to get on our tour bus and headed off for the ring of Kerry! It was so gorgeous! 10 hours of the most gorgeous scenery I've seen in Ireland and on the last day in November we were blessed with the most beautiful weather! I was so happy that we went. That night we got back and ordered our Chinese food and met up with the guys and stayed up late playing pool and talking. It was a fab weekend.

Last weekend Helena and I wanted to save money so we weren't going to do anything but then my host mom suggested she come here, so she did! I met her in Dundalk and we went ice skating and then took the bus back to Tallanstown. On our walk from the bus back to my house a random van pulled over and offered us a ride so, being the lazy person that I am, I got in the van with a complete stranger and scared the hell out of Helena. But he had the same name as the guy who owns the only convenient store in town so then I felt better haha.

We found a taxi service in Tallanstown and went into Carrickmacross for the night. It's a great little spot because there's only one nightclub so everyone who lives nearby goes there. There was an Irish actor there that night but I didn't recognize him so I probably ran into him without even knowing it haha. We met some pretty cool people and danced until closing time and then all of a sudden Helena was hit in the head by some jerks in a fight. I grabbed her and pulled her away and saved her life.

We had to wait about half hour for a cab because the town is so small and we got in with about 5 other people so it took us awhile to get home. We arrived home about 4am and went straight to bed. The next day Helena left about noon and we were both satisfied with how well the weekend went :)

Tomorrow she and I will go into Dublin just for the day. Oh yeah and a week from tomorrow we are off to Spain! I'm loving every minute of this journey and having an incredible ride. I am so so blessed!

Christmas in cork!

Ring of Kerry 

Ice skating

French friends 

Three Months Down. Am I irish yet??

So last time we spoke I was raging off my birthday weekend and sorry to disappoint but I haven't had anything to exciting since then. Let me fill you in.

I can't really remember anything too exciting form the weekend of the 8th except that I went to Kildare Outlets and saw some pretty towers and Cathedrals. However, i started helping out another family in my free times. They're friends with my current family and there's 3 of them, all boys, ages 6,4 and 6 months! So I'm basically doing double duty at two different houses but it's a lovely change of scenery!

Then, last weekend, Helena and Hermance csme all the way to county Louth to see the ever fascinating place I live. I picked them up at the bus station and we walked about 10 mi Utes into Ardee and had lunch at one of my favorite spots in town. We caught up on the past week and booked our hostel for New Year's Eve in Dubs! Then we got a taxi back to Tallanstown which only cost 9 euros! When we got there, my host mom had dinner ready along with snacks and drinks for us to have for the night! She left us the house and said she would be back to drop us into Dundalk for our night out. So we went to dundalk so I could show them the night life and I think we had enough fun for how small the town is haha. Then we got our favorite Taco Fries and hailed a taxi. We said we were going to tallanstown and he said 30 euros so we were like heck yeah! Then when I was giving him directions he was like "this isn't tallanstown, I should have dropped you guys on the road" and I was like what kind of person drops girls on the side of the road. How rude. So we ran out of the car as fast as we could and went in to eat our taco chips. Then the next day, we struggled to get them a ride to the bus because no one was available and for some dumb reason taxis don't run on Sunday's. Ober it. But it all worked out and we had a grand weekend over all.

Then the next week was uneventful but Helena and I went to Sligo on Saturday. Worst idea ever. We didn't get in til half 3 and barely had time to do anything. It was a 5 hour bus ride and we were just wrecked. But the lady at our hostel was so nice! We wanted Chinese take away so she ordered some with us and paid our delivery fee! That was our favorite thing about Sligo. We went out to a few places that were playing whack music and the girls were sloppy and falling all over the places. And to make it worse I bought new shoes and my ankles were shaking by the end of the night. I did get a cute new Jean jacket for 5 euro out of it so it wasn't completely a fail. Now, if I never go back to Sligo in my life It wouldn't phase me. Now I'm back with the new family until tomorrow and Helena, Julie and I are off to try Cork and Kerry in one weekend!

3 months have flown by and I'm loving almost every minute of it. I've got 9 months to go so I'm not letting it go to waste. December is supposed to be icy and colder than ever so if anyone wants to send me some warm clothes I would love you forever! Now in honor of my 3 months I will share some of the lingo I have learned!

Now- said in front of a sentence or just by itself randomly.
Come here- not actually meaning come here but said before telling a story or asking a question.
Loads- a lot, hella
Wee- little
Bit- pieces as in "i can't find the other bits"
Grand- great! Fantastic!
Fabulous or lovely- commonly used to describe food or smell or look
Sweets- candy
Chips-fries
Crisps- chips
Your man/woman- talking about a person as in a pronoun
Give out- to scold
Nappy- diaper
Wellies- rain boots
Pram- stroller
Boot- car trunk
Buns- cupcakes or muffins
Biscuits "bickies"- cookies
Press- cupboard or drawer
Cooker- oven or stove
Plat- hair braid
Plaster- bandaid
Wrecked- exhausted
Fecking- I bet you can guess what that means

These are just a few of the words I have added to my vocab!
Stay tuned ya'll!

This is what a hostel in Sligo looks like

 When they came to visit 

 The front yard at the other house

Babies love to sleep

Aodhan before his haircut

 A beautiful tower in Kildare

Kildare cathedral 

Kildare

It's chrismas time!

Nobody likes you when you're 23??

Wow! What an amazing birthday!
They say no one likes you when you're 23 but I was definitely feeling the love this weekend.
However, the week prior, I worked about 70 hours so I was in great need of this weekend.

So my host mom had a crazy work schedule last week. Where she worked two night shifts then had a day off then worked two day shifts so The kids missed her too much and took it out on me haha.
The older one, Aodhan had the week off of school because they have a bank holiday for Halloween over here. So I basically had the kids from Saturday until Wednesday and it was the longest week of my life. I haven't has Internet for a week and a half because I took up all the data on the mobile wifi. Oops. However, the weekend definitely made up for it.

So on Halloween I took a bus into Kilkenny to kick off my birthday weekend! My first bus broke down on e motorway so we had to wait for another one to get us. Then, I missed my connection so I had to hang out in Dublin for a few hours. Which wasn't too bad! I got to Kilkenny at about half 6 and was waiting for Hermance and Helena to meet me there. While I was waiting' I made my classic 'gingerbread woman' Halloween costume and hung out in the pub that was a part of our hostel. They got there a little after 8 and we had dinner and then got ready for the night!

We went to a couple pubs before we found one that was having a Halloween party and playing th best live music ever! And we were basically the only girls there so that was something that kept out attention haha. We ended up meeting a group of guys from Armagh wich is up north who were there celebrating a stagg. The three of us left to find some taco fries and then turned in for the night about 1 o'clock.

The next morning we got up to start our day! We had a delicious breakfast at a cafe down the street. Then we walked to visit Kilkenny Castle. Wow it was Gorgeous! We took a tour and got to see the history of the castle and see some of the original architecture. It was such an amazing experience. After the tour, we went down to lunch and then headed out to find something else to do. We walked down the street and found the Smithwick's factory which of course we had to take a tour of. At the end, we each got a pint of beer which of course I didn't drink haha. Then I went and got a pre-birthday mani-pedi and we got dinner. That night we went out again and got lots of free drinks since it was almost my birthday! Then I made the girls walk all over the city basically so our feet hurt just a wee bit by the end of the night. We again got some taco chips and resided back to our hostel at about half two in the morning. Which was by then, my Birthday!!

Sunday morning we woke up and remembered it was my birthday! We slept in til about half 10 and then Hermance had to leave us because she had work the next day. Helena and I realized we had done everything already so by 3 in the afternoon we were both tired and ready for a nap. We slept a good bit and then woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the night. We went to dinner and a pub which left us feeling excited about the night! We went back to the hostel and I put on my birthday dress and Tiara and was feeling ready. We went to our favorite pubs and found some guys to give us advice on what to do. They basically followed us the whole night but I wasn't complaining. Something about the curly red hair man. You would think they would see enough red hair in this country but apparently not. We went back to our favorite live music pub where they sang me happy birthday and we ended the night in the main club in Kilkenny called Morissons. I had an amazing birthday night.

When I got back to my house the next day, my host family had a red velvet cake and presents waiting for me! It was such a nice surprise. The cards and letters I recieved from my family back home made my birthday even more special. Thank you mom, dad, papa, grandma, Oregon Lampsons and the Ericksons for my cards and gifts! And thank you to my girls Hermance and Helena who came and celebrated with me. Thank you for all the birthday wishes. It was truly amazing!

Make New Friends Whom You Meet Through The Old.

Every day I'm in this gorgeous country I fall even more in love.
In the past few weeks I took a full day walking tour around Dublin (on accident) and I went to Galway for a night away. I gained two more friends and have planned for my birthday weekend in a week and a half! Oh and if you haven't heard, I'm going to Spain with Helena for Christmas!!!
   
I honestly am not sure how I feel about Dublin. We took a bus in to go shopping and we ended up visiting just about every landmark there is there. SO, if you asked me where a certain building was in Dublin, I could probably direct you to it. We saw the castle, city hall, Saint Patrick's (Padraig) Cathedral and some places where Vikings used to live. I swear we walked for maybe 6 hours of the total 8 hours we were there and I have seen enough of Dublin for a lifetime. I'm ready to go there for some fun!
   
Galway on the other hand was grand! We only stayed for one wee night because most of us had to be back on Monday to watch the kids but that night was pretty fun. We stayed in a hostel right in the city center but it was more like a hotel. We had our own bathroom in the room and the mattresses were pretty comfortable. Get this, it was called SNOOZLES. hehe. I met up with Helena again and she brought to other Au Pairs, Jules and Hermance, who are from France! Their English was also really good and the language barrier is almost unapparent. We did some shopping and took a free train tour around the city which was absolutely gorgeous. I wish we were there for longer but the kids come first!

We were there to celebrate Hermance's 20th birthday and we were all carded for the first time ever in Ireland! We went to the Coyote Bar which is Ireland's take on Coyote Ugly! The bartenders even dance on the bars and there was a huge poster of Tyra Banks and the rest of the cast from the movie. Of course I was doing all the line dances to the country songs they were playing so people kept telling me to get on the bar but that was not an option haha. There were loads of stagg and hen parties there and I actually met another person from County Louth who didn't believe that I live here! haha. 

I'm planning to go with the girls to do something for Halloween and then the next two nights we will celebrate my birthday! I was thinking maybe to do my "ginger bread wo-man" costume here since it was such a hit in the states and Halloween just started to become a big thing for the Irish. The kids here get two weeks off of school for Halloween because it's a "bank holiday" which is pretty great for the kids. I've had the house to myself the last two days and the peace and quiet has been nice but I miss the constant smiles from the kids. They'll be back tomorrow tho and I'll get to take care of them all weekend. 

I would say I'm becoming a tourist but there's loads of other places I need to see! My birthday is on November 2nd and it takes approximately 8-14 days for packages or letters to get here so if anyone wants to send me a birthday gift you better hop to it! haha just kidding! 

I doubt anything eventful will happen between now and Halloween/my birthday weekend but if it does I will definitely write about it! Oh and I still find it hard to understand the different Irish accents sometimes, but I'm getting there! haha. And for those of you wondering about Nathan, I tried multiple times to see him again but got no return for my efforts so off to the next!

Stay tuned ya'll!!

Eyre Square, Galway

Obviously I wasn't prepared for the rain in Galway

Helena and I in our room at Snoozles!

My new French friends, Hermance and Jules

She loves her Icecream

Cillian loves to swing

Trying to get a picture of all 3 of them.

Cillian eats everything

A panoramic view of the Dublin Castle.

More of the Castle

Trinity Uni in Dublin

There's plenty of water here!