Trip Recap!

Right now I'm in one of those strange moments in time when time seems to slow down. I'm sitting here, basically ready for work, and it feels like it should have been time to go about thirty minutes ago. Therefore, to pass the time I decided to blog a bit about our trip!

We flew into Dublin (all at different times but within two hours of each other) on January 3. On the 4th we went on a day trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland. What an interesting city! Ninety-seven percent of the city is divided into Protestant and Catholic. Religious segregation in action, daily. There's even a wall that runs three miles between them. January 5 we left on our 3-day tour of southern Ireland. We hit a ton of stuff, like Galway, Killarney, the Blarney Castle, Cliffs of Moher...and so on. Our tour guide, Joe, was awesome. When we first boarded the bus, he said, "Is there anyone easily offended on this bus? If there is...here's the door." I loved all the stories and his humor. We got back from that on the seventh and had a free day in Dublin on the eighth. We took the opportunity to visit the Guinness Storehouse, the Long Room at Trinity College, and went on a pub crawl that night. On the pub crawl (which was a musical one), they asked three of us (the crowd) to get up and entertain them. I went second and sang "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)." It was a blast.

The next day we flew out of Dublin into Edinburgh, Scotland. Even at night we could tell that Edinburgh was an awesome city. Unfortunately, early the next morning we left on our three-day tour and never got to spend a full day in Edinburgh. Our tour took us into the Highlands of Scotland and the Isle of Skye. The Highlands were just gorgeous, and we all fell in love with the country. Glen Shiel was by far my favorite area to drive through. For the two nights we stayed in the Stationmaster's House in Stromeferry, basically out in the middle of nowhere. Two men live in the house and take care of, and one of them (Gordon) worked with Mel Gibson on Braveheart! He was hardcore, and we loved him. He now does a lot of scouting for movies all around Scotland. On the last day of our tour we visited Loch Ness - which I swam in. :D Yes, it was ridiculously cold, and, no, I couldn't feel anything when I got out. Haha. I know it was a crazy thing to do, but it was so worth just to say I did it. It was an experience, too, stripping on the beach when I got out. Lol. I had to get my wet clothes off and change, and I wasn't going to get very far. Meagan, Anna, and Tiven brought me all my stuff and covered me as best they could.

The day after we got back from our tour, we hopped on the train to London. I just realized that I stopped putting dates, but I think it'll be okay. ;) We checked into our hotel that evening, and quickly wished we were back in hostels. The room smelled bad, and Tiven's bed pretty much collapsed when she sat on it. After we got back from eating and walking around London, we ended up changing rooms - and arrived in a room whose heater was broken. The next day they fixed it, but it was dead again before the next night. Our first full day in London we went on a free walking tour (you could tip the guide) and went to see Sunset Boulevard, a musical production. It was a good show; we went in not knowing what it was about, but it turned out to be a good choice. We really wanted to see Dirty Dancing, but we didn't find discounted tickets until after we'd already bought tickets for the first one. We went to Dirty Dancing the next night, after we got back from our day tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford.

While we were in London, Tiven's flight got cancelled; she had to change her flight to the next day - MY flight! My original itinerary changed back in August, and I was already leaving a day later than the others. I was glad that Tiven ended up being on my flight and therefore being able to spend another day in Dublin with me. We flew from Luton Airport in England back to Dublin. Anna and Meagan flew out the next day, and Tiven and I had a free day in Dublin. We finished our souvenir shopping, watched Bride Wars in a theatre, and ate sushi for dinner. Ironically enough, that day was the only day of non-sunny weather we'd had the whole of our time in Ireland. Haha.

There are so many stories to tell, but I won't put them here. We all kept travel journals, which is great for remembering everything that happened - and there was a LOT. I also took about 860 pictures and video. I'm going to put SOME of them on Facebook soon; I had some serious issues last week just trying to get the data off my camera onto my external hard drive. Blurg. I do have it figured out now, though, so it's happy days. :)

Possibly a Product of Delirium

I don't have many crazy faces. It's just like the same three over and over again.

Creeper neighbor man is getting even more creepier as we speak. Is it possible he has multiple personalities? One that is anal about everything, specifically lights, and one that is just a nice old man who likes to randomly talk to you or help your grandmother sweep the leaves from your door.

I got kicked out of Career Services for not having slept in twenty-four hours. I would cry discrimination - or prejudice, because it was assumed that I was delirious. Not that it wasn't right, it was just assumed. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I passed the main point of delirium about six hours ago. Oh, well. Just more time to finish these ridiculous, agonizing, torturing programs sooner.

I plan on printing out another copy of each program just to BURN them. You may think I am kidding - but I am not.

There are still like seven meals left on my Dawg Tag. I doubt I will use them in the next two days. I did use it this morning, though.

Apparently even the Monsters with the sealed lid go bad after about three weeks if they were already open.

I hope I don't get dizzy like last time I drank an entire Monster. I haven't finished a whole one yet, but there's not much left of it.

The rearview mirror soccer ball hanging thing broke yesterday, which is quite ironic considering it's only been a month and a half since my soccer career has been over. Perfect timing...

I'M READY TO LEAVE FOR IRELAND!!! However, I have to get grad school applications in before we leave, which isn't very exciting. Well, it kind of is, but it also worries me. Like, a lot.

Graduation in May seems a long way away, but I know it's actually not. I truly believe that despite the fact that I am taking nineteen hours next semester there is no way it'll be harder than this semester has been. I refuse to see that as a possibility. If it is, I'm pretty sure I can't handle it.

I want a library in my house. With a full wall for my DVDs. Hecka yeah.

I knew Peter had to get his powers back on Heroes. It HAD to happen. I was furious when he lost them to his evil father, but I always held out hope. I wonder how things are going to go down now that it appears that most of the truly evil characters are gone. I don't think they really are, but I just hope the next volume the villains aren't all in control again - even though Nathan seems to have jumped off the deep end.

Grey's Anatomy better step it up as well. This Denny crap is just that - crap. Really? He's dead. Let it go. Let Izzie move on. I have no idea how they're going to rationalize this, because apparently they already squashed the rumor that Izzie would end up having a tumor. Alex doesn't need another crazy girl when he's trying to have a decent relationship.

Private Practice and 30 Rock are awesome. Maybe the Private Practice/Grey's Anatomy crossover will do Grey's some good. Btw, I'm glad Hahn's gone, but not real excited about Callie and Sadie. You can't help but get the feeling that it's anti-Prop 8 propaganda.

Now back to finishing this stupid, vile, venomous program.

BLURG and BOO.

My Truth

Twisting, falling, dying words
In the woods and no one hears
Everyone lies, this much is true
And something dies inside of you

All that I wanted was not enough
And that was too much for me
Ask me what it means
I don't think I can answer

I feel too much, cry too loud
Shoulders always bowed
Always waiting for you
Feeling the time linger

The past seems beautiful
When all was simple, perfect
It all went wrong and I'm left
Holding what never happened

I've lost the words and the trust behind them
I hide hoping to be found
If my heart is to be given away
I wonder who will take it

Holy Cow

Not literally. But almost.

I took a online personality test that is based on the Myers-Briggs personality test, which is a solid test. This was obviously a shorter version, but apparently just as accurate. Here are my results...

I am an ISFJ - Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging.

• slightly expressed introvert
• moderately expressed sensing personality
• distinctively expressed feeling personality (duh)
• moderately expressed judging personality

Here are a couple of profiles of an ISFJ, otherwise known as a Protector:
Portrait of a Protector
ISFJ Profile

So I suggest you take it for yourself. And let me know your results! :)

Personality Test

It's Been a While

I haven't posted a lot this semester, and it's not really because I'm too busy. I guess I just have a lot of other stuff to think about - like graduating. AHHHHHHH! :)

Speaking of school...BOO research proposals, marriage and family programs, and my horrible, awful procrastination. I am so stubborn. Nevertheless, I WILL get it done - on time and pretty well.

It's still kind of weird sometimes that I am actually graduating in May. Holy cow. Really? Most of the time, though, I feel like I'm completely ready for the next step. Which, hopefully, will be grad school. I'm ready for a new place and new people (not to say anything against anyone here - I will miss many people). New experiences, as well. It excites me.

Yesterday I had a meeting with Renee Jones in Career Services. We went over the resume (which I kind of threw together quickly) I had made last week. Let me just tell you, it looks like someone died and bled all over it. Lol. Obviously, making resumes are not my strong point. Give me an essay. No, please don't. That was a joke. Anyway, there had to be a "Profile" section at the top - basically 6-8 of your qualities. That was just a flipping blast. I felt horrible for Renee, because it was like pulling teeth from me. I am glad that I didn't do it on my own; she really helped me come up with things and ways to word them that rock. Those people are there for a reason. Now I wish I'd gone to them sooner. Even though deadlines aren't until January and February, I should have been way ahead of the game. I read one guide to grad school that said junior year you should take the GRE. I thought, "Yeah...if only I wasn't an ENGINEERING major at the time!" One of my "qualities" is that I am well-rounded. ;)

Someone told me about this awesome website, www.echoprayer.com. You add prayers, then set up an e-mailing or texting schedule for them to remind you to pray. It's basically sweet. I have a lot of reminders set up throughout the day to remind me to thank God for at least one thing; it's made me appreciate things more. So often we forget that there are innumerable things to be thankful for every day.

And speaking of God, can I just tell you I am stoked about Klemata?! We had our leader retreat this past weekend. All the girls were incredible, and I cannot wait to see how God is going to use each of us to make an impact on other women at Union. It kind of makes me nervous to think I'll be leading my own small group of girls, but I have no doubts that God has put me in this position and He will give me the ability to exalt His name - which is what I'm here for anyway, right? ;)