Oh Happy Day!

Since my last post, I've booked my flight home, cooked some yummy new recipes for my host family, and witnessed two days in a row (with more to come!!) of sunshine and temperatures in the 60s (Fahrenheit)!  Happy days!  Oh, AND....I finally got a package from my wonderful friend Jennifer.  She sent it nearly 2 months ago for Easter...and I just got it yesterday!  I think it was a good thing that it was delayed so much though, because all my Easter candy is gone now...so this was really perfect timing.  :)

About my flight home...
No more "I'll be home sometime in mid-August" nonsense.  It's official:  I'll be flying out of Dublin on Monday August 13th and will be home later that evening.  Get ready, Michigan!  Only about 3 more months until I'm home again!

About those yummy recipes...
Peter and Ciara are away in the States for a little vacation and some meetings, so I've been on "cooking duty" for the kids a few times.  On Friday I wanted to try something different that the kids hadn't had before...so I thought Mexican food was the way to go.  :)  I got some strange looks from Leanne and Stephen when I opened the can of refried beans...but I told them "Trust me...you'll like it."  They ended up loving them!  Stephen even asked for seconds, and he's the most picky eater of them all!!  The best part was that I pretty much just made up the recipe and they turned out wonderfully.  I may do it again sometime!  Email me or leave a comment if you want the recipe for the enchiladas.

I tried a new recipe again tonight.  The kids loved it!  Even Stephen & Leanne!  They're the most difficult to please...so when they like something, it's a huge compliment.  :)  I made kind of a beef pasta-bake thing...here's my recipe that I made up!

You need: 

1 large package (800 g / 1.75 lbs) of ground beef
2 scallions (spring onions/salad onions), chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 can Cream of Tomato Soup (plus 1 can water, as directed)
1 can chopped tomatoes (use juice from them too!)
3/4 bag of pasta (any kind works...I used 3/4 of a 1 kg (35 oz) bag of Conchiglie...the little shells)
1/2 bag of frozen green beans
Cheddar cheese
1 scallion (spring onion/salad onion), chopped (for garnish)  

 

What to do: 

Cook the ground beef in a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat until brown.  Drain grease.
Add the 2 chopped scallions and let them simmer for a bit with the beef.  Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Pour in the contents of one can Cream of Tomato Soup plus one can of water (per directions on the soup can), and stir into the beef and scallions.
Pour in one can of chopped tomatoes (no need to drain the juice).
Let this simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175 C / 350 F.
Boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta as directed on the package.
Cook the frozen green beans in a smaller pot at the same time.
When the pasta is cooked, drain off the water and pour the pasta into a baking/casserole dish (9"x13").
Drain the water from the cooked green beans and pour the green beans into the baking dish with the pasta.
Add the beef mixture and mix well.
Grate enough cheddar cheese to cover the top, and sprinkle with 1 chopped scallion. 

Bake uncovered at 175 C / 350 F for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and slightly brown. 

This recipe served 6 generous portions, with leftovers.  :)

I've been keeping busy trying not to let the house burn down while Peter and Ciara are away, and so far so good.  The kids are pretty well-behaved (aside from the "My mum lets me do this..." stuff...typical), and they've actually been pretty helpful in keeping the house clean and helping with the wash-up after dinner.  So Peter and Ciara, if you're reading this, don't worry---your house isn't a total disaster!  :)

Now...about this wonderful weather I mentioned...
It's so not typical for Ireland!  Sunny skies?  Temperatures above 50 (Fahrenheit)??  No rain??  Yeah...doesn't happen very often.  Check out the forecast for this week!

Ahh...I love everything about that.  :)  I love the little yellow sun pictures...I love the temperatures...I love the "Chance of Precip"...it only gets up to 20%!  :)  Yayy thank You, Lord!  What a mood-booster!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday, which was another absolutely gorgeous day:

At a little park in Dun Laoghaire

Dun Laoghaire harbor...
only about a 20-minute bus ride from my house!

I've been taking pictures of the sun lately...
to prove that it actually shines here!!

Now for a little update on my work:
Aside from the youth program stuff I've been doing (we're actually almost done--next Friday is our last session!!), I went to check out a place called The Lighthouse last weekend.  It's about a half-hour DART (train) ride from my house, but I had heard some good things about them and I decided to check it out.  The Lighthouse is an outreach for homeless people.  They give food and clothing to the homeless in Dublin a few days a week.  I went there last Saturday to meet some of the staff and see what I could help with, and they put me right to work.  They gave me a task to do before they even asked my name!  I was thrilled!  I spent a few hours there on Saturday making sandwiches, washing a big crate full of grapes, putting the grapes into little plastic cups, and then sorting some of the donated clothes.  I met a few of the ladies (and one of the gentlemen) on staff, and they're all really friendly. I'm hoping to go back maybe once a week and make it a regular part of my service until I leave in August.

Things at Spirit Radio are still moving along.  I was in last week on Thursday doing a bit of website work, so that was fun.  I'm getting better at doing what they ask me to do without completely destroying the website!  Score!  :)

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I hope you all are doing well.  I am looking forward to more blessings in these next 3 months.  I know the Lord has many great things in store for me, and I can't wait to see what they are.  Please continue to keep me in your prayers, and know that I am keeping you in mine as well.  :)

All the girls in the Senior Group (my group), plus the Young Adults group
and a few college-aged girls.  :)  This was taken two weeks ago at our
Nazareth Community women's event.

Up, Up, and Away!

Oh my goodness, I am far overdue for an update!  I apologize to all my avid readers!

Since the last time I posted, quite a bit has happened.  Here's an attempt to fill you all in without boring you with endless ramblings...

All the family, plus both sets of grandparents,
at Stephen's Confirmation celebration dinner

The end of April was busy with my host brother Stephen's Confirmation day and celebration dinner.  The Confirmation Mass was quite interesting---the entire Mass and ceremony were spoken in Irish.  Stephen (along with the rest of my host siblings) goes to an all-Irish school.  So all day long the kids are only allowed to speak Irish, and all of their subjects are taught through Irish.  Needless to say, I didn't understand a whole lot of the ceremony except "Amen" and parts of the "Our Father".  I had Leanne sitting next to me and she translated whatever phrase or word I threw at her.  What a good little Irish student she is.  :)

On the day of Stephen's Confirmation, Joe (another one of my host brothers) had a hurling (an Irish sport) match.  Here's a link to the wikipedia page about hurling, in case you're curious about the sport!  (About Hurling)  I was pretty excited to go watch Joe play, but in the end I was slightly disappointed by a couple of things:  (1) it was freezing cold outside and it poured rain during the entire match, and (2) Joe didn't even get to play!  He was a sub!  On the bright side, I got to experience the thrill of a hurling match in some true Irish weather.  We all came home soaking wet and cold, so we put on dry clothes and had hot chocolate to warm us up.  :)

The Spirit Radio pledge drive ended up going really well---we raised 1,500 Euro OVER our goal of 35,000!  Praise God for providing!  We had some really generous donors and quite a lot of people signed up to be monthly donors for us.

Chrissy and me at The Brazen Head

I had a nice date with Chrissy a couple weeks ago and we spent a Saturday hanging out in Dublin city centre.  I showed her the Ferocious Mingle Market that my parents and I discovered during their visit, and Chrissy really liked it.  Here's a picture of my treasure from the Ferocious Mingle Market.  :)  Chrissy and I had dinner at The Brazen Head (Ireland's oldest pub), and the food was delicious!

Beautiful beautiful Dublin city!

On May 1st, a couple of friends from Ann Arbor (I knew them from University Christian Outreach) came to Dublin to visit!  They were kind of "Community-hopping", so they started in Dublin, then went on to Belfast, Glasgow, London, and then back to Dublin...all in a matter of 2 weeks!  I welcomed them to Dublin on their first day by showing them around the city centre...in the pouring rain!  You might think, "That sounds like absolute torture!"  It kind of was...but they had told me they were only going to be in Dublin for just the one day!  So I tried to squeeze in as much as I could that day...even though it was pouring rain.  :)  We still had fun though!  Chrissy joined us for dinner at the Buckley's that evening, and then we all went out to Temple Bar (a cool section of town with lots of bars and cobblestone streets) for the evening.  It had stopped raining by then.  :)

Chrissy, me, Chris, Sarah, and Dave at Temple Bar

Chris and Dave ended up staying for another day and a half, so they got to see a little more of Dublin...and this time in a bit nicer weather.  :)

We had a Community-wide football (but really soccer) tournament in Belfast last weekend, and it was really great to see everyone that I had met from the other Communities.  I didn't realize how many people I had actually met until they were all together in the one place.  I had fun catching up with everyone and just enjoying their company...and oh yeah, watching the football matches.  ;)  On the Saturday evening we had a big communal Lord's Day Meal, and then on the Sunday evening after the tournament was over we had a big party.  Fun!  Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Me with Sarah and Chrissy at the tournament

Leanne (my youngest host sister) and me

A bunch of my Senior Group girls cheering on the guys!

Jessie, Sarah and me being silly

The (almost!) winning team. Great job guys!!

After the football tournament, Chrissy and I stayed on in Belfast for a few days.  We checked in to the Belfast International Youth Hostel for a couple of nights and enjoyed one day in Belfast, a day trip up the North Coast to Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, and then one final day back in Belfast before heading back down to Dublin.  What a great trip!  I can't begin to explain how much the Lord blessed our time together...so I'll let the pictures do the talking:  (get ready...there's a ton!)

Day 1:  I got to see Brittany, a friend that
moved to Belfast about 5 years ago!

Lunch with Dave and Chris
before they left for Glasgow

Day 2:  Day trip up the north coast!
This is in Carrickfergus...like the SONG!

In Carrickfergus, looking for my handsome boatman
to ferry me over...LIKE THE SONG!  :)

Out of all the great views out of the
bus windows, this was my favorite :) 

Dunluce Castle.  SO GORGEOUS!

I love the contrast of the colors...

Near Giant's Causeway!

We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day!!

Giant's Causeway

The Causeway stones

The last stop of our day tour,
the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

Crossing the bridge!  :)

View from the other side of the bridge!

Ohhh beautiful Ireland!

Oh you know, just sitting on the cliff edge...

Now back in Belfast,
at Queen's University

Can you see what the name of the place is??  :)

At the Botanic Gardens in Belfast

I just HAD to take a picture of the sun to prove
that it DOES shine in Ireland :)

A gorgeous day to lay down on the grass...

...and look up at the trees :)

I couldn't resist!

Haha...look at the name of the place!
Chrissy and I met up with the Belfast GAPpers
and some of their friends here on our first night in Belfast

This is one of the Belfast street murals.
I took this photo during the Black Taxi Tour

I couldn't help but laugh...
Do the rotten 'maters go to the Mater Hospital??

Belfast street murals

The peace wall

We got to write on the peace wall!  Cool!

This monastery was absolutely gorgeous!

The wall in the monastery...beautiful!

Chrissy and me with Sean, our Black Taxi Tour driver

Once we got back to Dublin, we were hit with reality---cold, windy, rainy weather....and....the smell of fresh doughnuts??  On the walk back from the bus station, Chrissy and I turned onto O'Connell Street and made our way to the Quays (pronounced "Keys") toward the 145 bus stop.  Almost immediately after we turned onto O'Connell Street, the smell of hot, fresh doughnuts wafted up our noses.  Mmmmm.  Chrissy had told me about these doughnuts before.  They're from a tiny little cart thing and they're only 70 cent each.  And they're served hot and fresh.  Think hot, crispy, sugary goodness on the outside, and warm, soft, doughy goodness on the inside.  Words just cannot explain how wonderful those doughnuts taste, so our smiles in this picture will have to do.  :)  

I went to an amazing talk on Thursday night about "The Secrets of the Eucharist".  The talk was based on the book "7 Secrets of the Eucharist" and was given by an American priest (living in Dublin for the past 5 years) named Fr. Mullen.  He was excellent!  It was honestly one of the best, most powerful talks I've heard in a long time!  And I'd like to say I've heard a good number of talks.  This one went into detail on some things about the Eucharist that we probably know, but that we have not taken the time to appreciate.  As a Catholic, I know Mass can seem boring.  I know what it's like to come in some Sundays, and walk back out at the end of Mass not having remembered a single thing that the priest talked about.  It's terrible, but it's true!  "Over-familiarity can breed indifference, ingratitude, and mediocrity" (Fr. Mullen).  We're used to the same routine of Mass, and if we don't make a conscious effort to listen to what is being said and become aware of the miracle that happens in the Eucharist every Sunday at Mass, we can become indifferent and unappreciative of what Jesus is trying to do in our hearts.  Fr. Mullen quoted a couple of saints, one of them being St. Faustina.  I absolutely love this word from the Lord that she received.  Jesus said to her, "When I come to a human heart in Communion, my hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul, but souls do not even pay attention to me.  They leave me to myself and busy themselves with other things...they treat me as a dead object."  Gosh, that's like slapping Jesus in the face!  He comes to us with His arms wide open with so much love and grace for us, and then we just turn away and don't even give Him the time of day.  I don't even want to begin to tell you the number of times I've "slapped Jesus in the face".  St. Faustina's word from Jesus really convicts my heart and inspires me to be more enthusiastic about going to Mass and receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.  Another saint that Fr. Mullen quoted was St. Therese of Lisieux.  On the day of her first Holy Communion, shortly after she received Jesus, she was seen crying in the church.  A couple of ladies saw her crying and said, "Oh, look at little Therese...she must be crying because her mother isn't here on the day of her first Communion."  (Therese's mother had died when Therese was about 4 years old.)  Little Therese heard these women say that, and this is the response she recorded in her journal:  "It was beyond them that all the joy of heaven had entered one small, exiled heart, and that it was too weak to bear it without tears.  As if the absence of my mother could make me unhappy on the day of my first Communion!  As all of heaven entered my soul when I received Jesus, my mother came to me as well."  My goodness, that just breaks my heart, but makes it so filled with joy as well.  I can't believe a young girl (age 7-9 probably) wrote that!  It inspires me that she had such a powerful encounter with Jesus on the day of her first Communion.  **Lord Jesus, help me to be more like St. Therese!  Help me to realize what exactly is happening in my heart when I receive You in Communion!**

On Friday night I had a girls evening for the girls in my section (Senior Group) of the youth program, plus the 3 girls that will be in Senior Group next year.  I made a huge bowl of Puppy Chow (or "Muddy Buddies" or "Monkey Munch"), and it seemed to go over well with them.  I shared some highlights from the talk on the Eucharist that I went to on Thursday night, and we talked about ways to conquer boredom during Mass, and a little bit about how to share our faith with non-Christians...mostly through the way we act, speak, and think in our daily lives (not necessarily sharing the Gospel with them).  Overall I think the girls enjoyed the talk, and I know they enjoyed the Puppy Chow, Skittles, and cookies we had.  :)  Oh and of course I painted their nails afterwards!

I hope you all are doing well.  It's hard to believe that I'll be home in almost exactly 3 months.  My time here has been flying by but I've been learning and experiencing so much.  Thank you thank you THANK YOU for all of your support!  Please continue to keep me and the Community and youth program in your prayers!  :)

God bless!