I'm Back!

About a year and a half ago I started low lighting my hair as I had decided to go back to my real hair color which is a medium brown.  In the beginning of this experiment I liked the look and was happy that I only had to go to the hair dresser every 5 months instead of every 3.  But over the months as my hair got darker and darker I began not to like it.  Looking over old photos from my blond days made me long for my blond hair so here I am- back where I belong!

8 Years Ago Today...

Eight years ago today Matt and I married. It was so long ago that all the pictures I have from our wedding photographer are real photos, not digital.  These pictures you see here were emailed to me by someone at the wedding and are the only digital photos I have (sorry I don't have better ones to post!).  People I meet are always surprised to hear how long we've been married.  They always say,  "you must have gotten married so young!"  We were 22 and 23.  It didn't seem young at the time. Out of all of our friends who are our age we have been married the longest and we joke about being the old married couple. Anyway, I have to say God has been so very good to us these last 8 years of marriage.  I feel closer to Matt and love him more than ever.  I am often amazed by God when I think about how He, in His wisdom, gave me just the man I needed to compliment me, challenge me, and shape me.  Marriage is after all, as Martin Luther said, a school for character.  Thanks honey, for all the love and grace you show me and model to me.

Paddy's Day 2010

Today we went to over to our friends Betsy and Dave's house to join them (and Betsy's sister and brother in law) for breakfast before we all went downtown to see the Paddy's Day parade.  Betsy and Dave have been a huge blessing to us over here.  We've spent many a holiday together and there is nothing like being with fellow Americans for holidays while we're away from home.  On top of holidays the four of us also hang out regularly- having dinner, going shopping, or smoking cigars around the fire bowl. It will be so hard to say goodbye to them this summer when they move back to New York :(

Brazilian Pastel Night

Last night Matt and I were invited to have Brazilian Pastel made by our Brazilian friend Cristiane.  Pastel is a crispy deep fried pastry filled with savory or sweet fillings.  Cristiane made two kinds, minced meat and cheese.

I met Cristiane a few months ago  through my friends Edwina and Sandra who are flatmates with her.  She is from the south of Brazil and has been here for almost three years.  I have really enjoyed the Brazilians and Australians I have met over here as I find them to be very friendly and American compatible.

Sandra and Edwina as well as Edwina's fiance, Ebe, and another friend of Cristiane's joined in the pastel extravaganza also. The 7 of us had a great time devouring pastel and laughing about all kinds of things.  As the Irish say,  it was good craic!  Pictured from left to right, Cristiane (Brazil), Sandra (France), Matt, Edwina (Ireland) and Ebe (Ethiopia). 

Our New Flat

Here are some pics of our new flat so you can see how a typical Irish flat looks.

Ephesians Conference Day

This weekend I went up to Belfast with a group of ladies from my church to attend a day conference.  The speaker was Peter O'Brien, an Aussie who is an Anglican clergyman and professor at Moore Theological College in Sydney.  He gave three lectures on the book of Ephesians and answered some questions at the end.  The lectures were very good and Ephesians was made anew to me.  On the way home we stopped at the Banbridge Outlet mall just outside of Belfast where we scooped up deals like Gap jeans for 7 pounds!

The picture from left to right: Lois (Australia), Deirdre (Ireland), me, Catrin (Wales), and Alley (Australia).

The Sound of Tucson!

Today I woke up to find out that we can now live stream our favorite radio station from Tucson, 92.9 The Mountain.  I was so excited that I had to text Matt right away and say "guess what I am listening to?!"  I've tried to stream this station a number of times since we've been here and it never allows me to because I'm outside of the U.S.  Well I don't know what changed because we're still outside of the states but we can now hear the sounds of Tucson at home- YIPPEE!

After this exciting news I received a knock on my door. It was 2 Jehova Witnesses.  A man and a woman, French.  I rushed them off as fast as I could but not before finding out that I did not qualify to become a JW.  They likened it to becoming a surgeon. Hmm.... I am sure glad I qualified to be recipient of God's saving grace in Christ by being a sinner!

Pining Away for Tucson

Today it is 46 degrees and sunny in Dublin.  This is nicest day so far this year as it has been an unusually cold and snowy winter here.  We are anxious for warmer temperatures as our new apartment is poorly insulated and very cold.  I spent the weekend pining away for Tucson and today's sunny weather only served to make me want Arizona all the more!  One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to pray everyday for a perfusion job to open up in Tucson for Matt.  I have wanted to move back to Tucson for what feels like as long as I have been over here but it wasn't until the turn of the year that I became serious about it in prayer.  Don't get me wrong, we have had an amazing time traveling over here but the truth of the matter is there is no place like home and I am more anxious than ever to get back to Tucson.  Today as I was doing my house work I was dancing around to Paul Simon whose music is the perfect soundtrack for Tucson in my mind.  I dream of the desert, the cactus, the mountains, the Arizona sunsets, the sunshine, the warm breezes and the beautiful smells of Tucson's spring .  I cannot wait to get back to family, friends, my home church, and our new house which I affectionately call "my adobe."  As you can probably tell, and as I often say to God in regards to moving back to Tucson, "tomorrow couldn't be soon enough!"  Please pray with me.