Life since Ireland!

Most everyone knows this already, but WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!  We now know that the reason for being in Ireland was for me to be able to relax enough to get pregnant!  Drew was only out there for a month, it is a miracle, we know the Lord has a plan for us and that was part of it, wild and crazy as it is!  Life since then has been far different from what I was expecting!  We had a plan set to come home, see Dr.'s, get adoption papers going, and so forth, but it ended up happening a much better way!  We are so grateful and thankful for the experience and are so excited to meet our little girl in the next couple months! 

Since being home, my little brother came back from his mission and is getting married this next weekend, congratulations!  We had wonderful holidays!  We made our own Halloween costumes!  Then I went on another amazing girls trip to CABO!  Then Drew and I enjoyed an intimate Thanksgiving at home, just the two of us and then enjoyed a snowy Christmas in Utah with family! 

January Drew started his new exciting job on his own show with his friends Jake and Eric called Daily Rehash!  Look it up on www.ora.tv, it is a very entertaining daily show that lasts about 2 min and catches you up on the happenings on Twitter!  This job gave me the ok to quit working and rest and prepare for baby girl!  It has been a wonderful last couple of months, taking care of home, and getting the nursery ready!  We are so excited!!!

In the upcoming weekends, I will be enjoying a shower in Utah, thank you family, as well as a shower in California, thanks you friends!  I am and have been so overwhelmed with how generous and thoughtful everyone has been since we got pregnant!  We have received so many wonderful gifts and hand me downs that will be well used!  So here's to hopefully me keeping the blog updated from here on out, with baby news and other happenings!  And another thank you to friends and family!  We are so grateful for your love and support and can't wait to share this bundle of joy with you all!

IRELAND WEEK 14 OF 14!!!!!!!!

Well, here we are!!!  I AM COMING HOME TOMORROW!!!!!!  I am so excited I can barely contain myself!  It will be a total of 12 hours traveling, but if I can get through 3 1/2 months of being away, I can handle 12 hours!  Not too much happened this past week, work and some rest and more work!  I wouldn't let myself pack till just today, due to getting to anxious, but now I am packed and all ready!  I get into LA around 7pm tomorrow evening and then home to my wonderful family!!!  This summer like I said last week will be an unforgettable one for so many reasons!  I know I was suppose to be here and have learned so much and life will only get better from here!  I know it will not be all peaches and cream, but I feel I am ready for anything!  Thank you all for thinking of me, praying for me, staying in contact with me, and simply liking and commenting on my happenings!  I am so blessed with such an amazing family and so many wonderful friends!!!  I can't wait to catch up and just be around you!  So here's to next week, when I will finally be home!  Farewell Ireland, you will be dearly missed, I feel like I am taking a piece of you home with me, and I hope to visit again someday!!!

Ireland week 13 of 14!!!

Can you believe it?  My last week here!  It has been an amazing summer full of fun, excitement, learning experiences, trials, hardships, and more!  The decision to come out here was not easy but ended up being definite that I needed to be here.  I may not know the exact reason of needing to be out here, but I have learned so many things about myself, my relationship with my husband, and relationships with family and friends.  And I have learned a lot about where I stand as a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!  I know the changes I want and need to make in my life when I get home to make the most of what I have in front of me!  I know some of the changes won't be easy and I know I won't be able to do it all at once, but I know I need to make these changes to better my life and the relationships I have!  I have been so blessed to be able to see so much this summer!  I have been all around Ireland, France, and London!  I am so thankful for these experiences and for the people I have been able to share them with!  I am so grateful for the time Drew and I were able to spend out here!  I am so thankful for the family that I work for and for them making it possible to experience so much this summer!  And most of you know, Drew headed back home this last Tuesday and that was not easy at all!  I wanted to go home with him so badly!  But now only 1 more week, and 1 10 hour flight to LA and I will be home!  I am aching and yearning to be in my own home, but will miss this place for sure!  I hope someday to return and catch up with the people I have met out here, they have all made such a wonderful impact in my life!  The things I am mostly looking forward to at home are being around family and friends, my own home and bed, people who have the same accent as me, the sun, 3G on my phone, and well pretty much everything!  But there is no rest for the weary, the month of Sept. is going to be a busy one, from Vegas to Utah, back home to LA, and then to Spokane Washington!  Then we are into Oct.  But what fun is life without it being non-stop!  I cannot wait to see you all and catch up!  This time next week I will be on my way home!  So, until next week!!!

Ireland week 12 of 14!!!

Hello all! Drew and I arrived back to Belfast from London last night and what an experience! It was such a wonderful vacation of site seeing and also relaxation, thanks to our friends, the Phillips(who moved to England in June)! We are forever grateful for your hospitality and for taking us in! We had such a wonderful time, I am already trying to find ways to come back and visit again! We arrived Monday evening into Gatwick and were able to catch up with our lovely friends. Tuesday we headed out to see Ashdown Forest aka Winnie the Pooh 100 acre woods! We first stopped at Pooh Corner a little shop and Tea Room.

We bought a few souvenirs and then headed to walk around in the woods a bit! Ended up at Pooh Stick Bridge(giggle)! Then we headed back for an afternoon of resting and then to a little city for dinner! Wednesday was our big, tiring, London site seeing day! We headed off on a train to Victoria station and then to Buckingham Palace! There were quite a number of tourists standing around, so we asked one lady what was happening, she didn't know. Then after walking around for a second, a lady chased us down and asked if we knew what was happening, we said no, and then she told us that it was the changing of the guard at the palace! We hung around for a bit and saw some guards ride by on horse back, but we had a lot to see and so we headed off! Our next stop was Piccadilly Circus, then off to the British Museum! Very cool, a lot of history! Then we headed off to one of the highlights of the day, 221 Baker Street aka 187 N. Gower Street where they shoot Sherlock, the tv show! So cool, we took pictures, walked into the Speedy Cafe and they had pictures up of them shooting! Very cool!

Afterwards we headed to the Tower Bridge aka London Bridge! Saw the Tower of London, walked to the Globe Theater, and then walked across Millenium Bridge! Our feet were killing us at this point! Thank goodness for the tube! Our next stop was Temple Church where Davinci Code was filmed because it was built by the Nights Templar! Afterwards we headed to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye! We had seen all we wanted and were exhausted, so we ate dinner at a pub just across the street from Big Ben. I am obsessed with pub food!

We headed back to our friends place and crashed! Thursday, we headed off to Polesden Lacey, a Manor House, with beautiful gardens and the inside of the house was beautiful also! Then we ate lunch at the Tea Room there!

Afterwards we headed back for a nice rest and then dinner! Another beloved roast chicken! Friday morning we headed back into London to help our friends out with finalizing things back in the US! They headed to the US Embassy and we headed with the kiddos to Hyde Park! Just being in London is very exciting, so much going on! We played at a fountain and walked around! Then when our friends were finished we headed to our favorite place, McDonalds! Saturday was sadly our last day, but we made one last adventure to Windsor Castle! I just kept asking myself and everyone around me, how could you live a place like that? It's so overwhelming, but I guess if you grow up only knowing that, then it wouldn't be so overwhelming! Amazing and beautiful!

Then we ate an amazing lunch, burgers at a Thai restaurant! We should have known they were going to be terrible! So we bought ourselves treats and then headed back to the Phillips B&B! We played with the kiddos, got our stuff put together and then ate a wonderful, fresh, great tasting dinner, made by Anne, to make up for lunch! Thank you Anne for saving us! Then they took us to the Airport! What a wonderful trip! It was packed with so many things, but was also relaxing and a much needed break! A few things we will remember always from this trip were quotes their sweet daughter 'E' said on a regular basis, such as, Apple Juice, no more crying, lollipop, treats, Aroura, and so many more! Such completely adorable children! And thank you so much again Anne and Roo! Our trip would not have been so wonderful without you and your sweet family! Feel free to come stay with us anytime, and we hope to make it back again! And as of right now, only 2 more weeks as of tomorrow and I will be H O M E!!! That word has never meant so much to Drew and I! We cannot wait!!! But until next week...

Ireland week 11 of 13-15!

Hello family and friends! Here we are on week 11 and not too much happened this week! I worked Tues. through Thursday, with Wednesday night seeing 'Batman' again with Stephanie, I slept through most of it. Then drew and I spent Friday catching up on sleep, walked around a Museum near by that has animatronic Dinosaurs, and then went downtown to shop and see a movie, 'Ted'. Then Saturday we went with the kids that I nanny to Mookie World, mostly to show Drew how fun it was, then we relaxed a bit more and then headed out with Mandy and Bryan, friends from LA, to see 'Brave' a cute daughter/Mother movie! Yesterday we headed to church and then afterwards we headed out to the Mourne Mountains, beautiful! Dundrum Caslte, which was almost like Dunluce, and then finished the day with some good ole fashioned Mini Golf! Guess who ended up being a real Champ at this? Shockingly me, it was all chance! I was just as surprised as Drew and Stephanie! Today we are getting ready to head to London!!! We cannot wait! We are staying with some lovely friends, Annie and Roo, who are so nice to take us in and we will report back next week on all the happenings! Love and miss everyone! Only a few more weeks! Ahhhhhhh!!!!! But, until next week!

Ireland week 10 of 13-15!

Another adventurous week! I worked Tues. through Friday, with babysitting Friday night watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Its unreal to be so close and then we are actually headed to the midst of it all next week! Early Saturday morning we headed out for Galway and more specifically, the Aran Islands! We had a ferry to catch at 10:30am and a 4 hour drive to get through, not really knowing where we were going and with no GPS. So we headed out by 6:30am and sadly missed the Ferry, but were able to catch one at noon. When we got out to the Island, our wonderful trip planner Mandy, told us the best way to get around the Island was by horse and carriage, so that is exactly what we did!

We spent the next few hours touring Inis Mor Island where only generations of families live and wonderful landscape! Then he stopped, let us out and we hiked up to these beautiful cliffs, AMAZING site to behold!

Then we headed back, ate at a place called The American Bar, and then got back to our B&B in Galway for a much needed nights rest! Sunday morning we headed out for Dublin and saw Dublin Castle, ate at Queen of Tarts, saw the outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and then drove around to find our B&B in Dublin. After finding it we rested for a while and then headed out towards Grafton Street and St. Stephen's park where they filmed 'Once' a beloved movie of Drew and I's.

It was surreal actually being there and walking around. If you've seen the movie, there is a guy in a track suite that try's to take the boys earned money, we had a gentlemen in a track suite actually ask us for change. I wish I could have taken a picture with him. Afterwards we walked around to find a place to eat and eventually walked in to a Bar. Bar food here is unreal. So amazingly good, and I even tried my first Lamb! Monday morning we headed out to see the inside of St. Patrick's, the largest obelisk in Europe, and Glasnevin Cemetery. Then headed on our way back to Belfast, and were told by Mandy, who can plan all of our trips from now on, to stop and see Newgrange.

Which is a site that is older that Stone Henge, they are ancient burial tombs, and are even older than the pyramids. It was fascinating! Very much worth it!!! Thank you Mandy! Then we got back home to Belfast where a nice roast chicken dinner was waiting for us, thanks to Stephanie! Have I told you all how much I seriously love the taste of roasted chicken here! AMAZING!!! And so quick and easy to do! I would bring a year supply of whole chickens home if I could! They are AMAZING!!! Now we are almost to the end of this week and its mostly been work. But we are looking forward to more adventures this weekend and then off to London next week! CAN NOT WAIT!!! So until next week! And look for pics on Facebook! Love and miss you all!!!

Ireland week 9 of 15!

And what a fun week it has been! Drew finally got in after landing in Cleveland due to bad weather and then finally making it to Newark, missing his flight to Belfast and then finally flying in Tuesday morning! It was quit the adventure, but I am so completely happy he is here! After he arrived we came back to see the place then headed out for lunch at Pizza Express! Then headed back so Drew could get some much needed rest! The next few days were all mostly like this with me going to work in the morning and Drew catching up to the time zone here! Thursday after I headed to work in the morning, my boss wanted me to run some errands in town so Drew and I headed down and spent the next three hours wandering, shopping, and then stopping for lunch! Then from Friday to Monday I had off work and we started our site seeing! Friday we headed to the Titanic Museum which was built on the actual area that the real Titanic was built! So cool, so much history! Then we ate lunch, headed back for a rest and then we headed to see Batman! When we got there our tickets said VIP but we weren't sure what that meant, and with Drew's excellent punctuality we were there 2 hours early! So they had us wait in the Directors lounge and told us they would come get us when the movie was about to begin! Well little did we know that it was a theater much like Gold Class Cinema with lounge chairs and comfort, but without waiters and meal served while you watch the movie! A pleasent surprise! Saturday we headed out for breakfast and then to the grocery store, and when we got back home to rest for the days outings, we both zonked and when we woke it was 6pm, so we stayed in and chilled! Sunday we headed out to church, Drew got a very warm welcome from the ward! They all said I looked so happy! I didn't realize till Drew got here that I didn't look happy before, but now with him, I realize how much I really do need him around in my life! After church we headed to a place called Stormont where Irish Parlament meets! Beautiful grounds, a castle, park, and much more! Then came home, took naps, made dinner, had Mandy, Brian, and Sadie over for dinner, who are friends from LA, and then headed to their place for an awesome game night of Mexican Train! Thank you guys, for a fun evening! Yesterday was the day of days for site seeing! We headed out at 9:30am saw the Irish coast, Rope Bridge, Giants Causeway, stopped at a Tea Room at Dunluce Castle for lunch, saw Dunluce Castle, and then toured Londonderry! And then enjoyed a nice dinner at Flaming Jacks! Headed home and pulled in exactly 12 hours from when we left that morning! Such an exhausting but fun day! We are both so grateful to be here together experiencing this! Even with all the stress and craziness of my job, we are both so happy to be here! And so grateful! Until next week...