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!

Living in the Moment...Living My Life

Well my wonderful little holiday (vacation) is over.  My parents have gone back home to Michigan, and I'm resuming my responsibilities as a GAPper in Dublin.  I've put my "GAPper hat" back on and am ready to conquer these next 3 and a half months here in Ireland. Yesterday I helped out with homeschooling and child-minding for a big family in community, and today I'm helping out at Spirit Radio with the pledge drive. 

We're on day 2 of fundraising for the station, and we're praying that God will provide money to help us stay on the air.  Spirit Radio is a great evangelistic tool we have started here in Ireland---we're currently broadcasting to 5 cities across the country!  That's huge!  If you'd like to find out more about the station, click here.  You can even listen online by clicking "Listen Live" (at the top of the page).  We depend mainly on our listeners for financial support, so these pledge drives really are critical to us.  You can donate to Spirit Radio if you wish---we are always looking for financial support!  If you're reading this from the outside Ireland, you can donate very easily (and securely) on the website via Paypal (Option 4 on this page:  http://www.spiritradio.ie/support/donate/), and if you're reading from Ireland, you can call in to the station this week at 1800 815 711 or donate online.  Any amount you can afford will greatly benefit us!  :)  Okay, enough on that.  Didn't really expect to give a plug for the pledge drive here but the Lord really put it on my heart to do so.

Before I completely abandon my "holiday/vacation mode", I have to tell you about one of the best days I've had in a while...the last day (Sunday 23rd April) with my parents here in Ireland.  It was all about living in the moment.  We didn't have a grand plan for the day...we just took it in bite size pieces.  It's not often that I do that...but I loved it.  Here's how the day went:

After a nice relaxed morning (I slept until 11:30!), I hopped on a bus and headed into town to meet my parents.  It was pouring (or "lashing" as they say here) rain when I got on the bus, but I really hoped it would calm down by the time I got into town.  Of course it continued to rain.  I got off the bus on O'Connell Street where I planned on meeting my parents, but because I was about 10 minutes early, I ran into the nearest Penneys (not to be confused with "JC Penneys" in the States...) to buy a cheap umbrella.  I found a small pink one for just 5 Euro.  Perfect!  :)  By the time I paid and went back outside it had stopped raining.  Oh, Ireland...how I love thee.  I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't use my new umbrella, but I figured I'd have plenty more opportunities.  I walked over to meet my parents and about 5 minutes after I got to our meeting spot, I saw them walking up the street.  As soon as they saw me they started waving their arms wildly and smiling at me.  My mom also started gesturing "I love you" as she got closer, and my dad started doing the same.  It was one of those moments that made me really happy they were in Ireland visiting me.  :)

My mom and me with my new pink umbrella!

My parents and I walked pretty aimlessly all around the city that day...in the on-and-off rain...and it was wonderful.  We didn't really have a set destination, other than the fact that we knew we'd eventually get hungry and need to stop somewhere for dinner.  We spent our time just walking up and down streets, crossing bridges, and stumbling into shops.  I met a nice Irish man named Sean in a charity shop we visited, and he was very friendly.  He heard my mom say something to me and he immediately detected our American accents.  He proceeded to ask where we were from, and then asked all kinds of questions about Michigan.  It was nice that he was so interested in our State.  Before he left he shook my hand and said, "It was nice to meet you.  My name is Sean, by the way.  Can't get any more Irish than that!"  I laughed and told him my name, to which he responded, "Oh, Rachel is a Biblical name, isn't it?"  I nodded yes, and then he said, "I'm not too familiar with the Good Book, but I do know that Rachel is a Biblical name."  I smiled at him and then said goodbye and made my way out of the shop.  Looking back on it now, I feel as though I should have shared a bit of Jesus with Sean.  He did kind of bring Him up.  *Oh Lord, please give me the boldness to share You more impulsively with others!*

This is at Madigans

About halfway through our afternoon we decided to stop for a coffee (Diet Coke for me) break in a pub.  We went to a place called Madigans and got drinks and an order of chips (fries) to share.  It was the perfect mid-afternoon snack!

My new gorgeous necklace!

Close-up

We walked in some other cool shops in the city and we happened to stumble into one very unique place called "The Ferocious Mingle Market".  Standing on the street and looking into the shop, it seemed to go on forever...just further and further back.  When we walked in there was a whole bunch of really cool antiques and some old books.  There was also a little coffee shop.  Further back there were a bunch of stalls set up with people selling all kinds of things...clothes, books, jewelry, lamps, little trinkets...all kinds of things.  Everything had kind of a funky, vintage-y feel to it...very quirky.  There was also a small stage where I assume they have live music from time to time.  I was looking in the jewelry stall with my mom and the lady there was very friendly.  She said that all the jewelry was currently half off because she was trying to bring in a new line of more jewelry soon.  I bought a really pretty necklace and it was only 10 Euro!  :)

When we had finished furociously mingling in "The Ferocious Mingle Market", we headed back out into the rain toward a pub to have dinner.  Even though it was wet and grey and cold, we enjoyed trying to squeeze under my tiny pink umbrella.  Truthfully, I don't think we really minded getting wet.  We enjoyed just having a nice relaxed pace to the day and not rushing anywhere.  Plus we were together.  Who cares about the rain?  :)  For dinner we went to The Brazen Head, which is Ireland's oldest pub.  I ordered Irish stew with lamb, and it was absolutely delicious.  I can't remember the last time I had lamb, but I really enjoyed it.  It was cooked and seasoned perfectly...yum!  My mom also had her very first Guinness in The Brazen Head.  She had never had Guinness before...what a perfect place to try it!  :)  We had a wonderful dinner together and got some great pictures in the pub.

The bar at The Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub

My parents and me at The Brazen Head

I said goodbye to my parents at the bus stop on Sunday (it was too much trouble for me to try and get to the airport to bid them goodbye there...), and then headed back home.  I didn't feel too sad about it then, but looking at all the great pictures from our visit makes me wish I could hug them both one more time.  I am so happy that they got the opportunity to come visit me here in Ireland and also for the opportunity I had to take some time off to be with them.  Thanks Peter & Ciara!  :)

I got the new Jason Mraz cd in the mail last week and I've been listening to it nonstop since then.  I love all the songs!  My current favorite is "Living in the Moment".  It just makes me so happy.  :)  I listened to it 3 times on the bus into Spirit Radio today.  Good stuff.  Here's the link to the song on YouTube if you'd like to have a listen:  "Living in the Moment".  I love the whistling at the beginning, and the lyrics are just really great.  I think we all need to learn a lesson from Jason about just living each moment of every day and not getting caught up in the small troubles of life.  I know I need that lesson!

"I will not waste my days making up all kinds of ways to worry about all the things that will not happen to me.  [...] I'm letting myself off the hook for things I've done.  I let my past go past and now I'm having more fun.  I'm letting go of the thoughts that do not make me strong." -Jason Mraz ("Living in the Moment")

First try with my new stamping nail art kit

Oh, one more thing...if you know me at all, you'll know that I love painting my nails.  I paint them every week and love doing cool designs on them.  I also love doing other people's nails and have gotten around to painting almost every girl/woman in Community's nails here!  Anyway, I got an awesome KONAD Stamping Nail Art kit a few days ago.  If you read that and said "What the heck is a KONAD Stamping Nail Art kit???"...I'll explain it as best as I can.  It's "nail art made easy".  Basically you get these round, thin metal plates with designs engraved into them.  You take a special nail polish and blob it onto the plate, then take a little metal scraper to scrape the excess nail polish off the plate.  The rest of the polish stays in the little grooves of the design.  Then you take this rubber stamper tool and press it onto the design, picking up the nail polish that is left in the grooves.  Then you stamp the design from the rubber stamper onto your nail.  Sound complicated?  It is.  I got so frustrated last night trying it out!  I kept smearing the nail polish all over the plate instead of neatly scraping it off.  Then when I did neatly scrape it off the plate, I only picked up half of the design with the rubber stamper.  Then it dried before I could stamp it onto my nail.  Sheesh!  Eventually after many many tries (and fails) and a long Skype call with my friend Jennifer from back home (she was encouraging me "You can do it, Rach!")...I got it to work!  I ended up using my own nail polish to stamp the design instead of the special nail polish that comes with the kit.  I think eventually I'll learn to get the special nail polish to work.  :)  The picture above is how my nails turned out.  Not bad for my first attempt!  I added some pink and white to distract you from the fact that the stamp didn't fully make it onto my nail.  :)

If you're in Ireland reading this and would like to have some cool designs stamped onto your nails, let me know!  I'd love the practice!  If you're back in the States, you'll have to wait till I get home in August.  By then I should have it down perfectly!  :)

God bless you all!  Have a great rest of the week!  Here's a funny picture I took in Dublin on Sunday...

How Great Thou Art

My parents are here!  Well...they're currently in Adare, Co. Limerick.  But they're in the same country as me!  :)  I am very blessed with the opportunity to turn off my "GAPper brain" for a little while and visit with my parents.  We had a nice couple of days in Dublin last weekend, and I spent the first part of this week touring some of the West of Ireland with them.  We got to do some pretty great stuff!  Here's a brief day-by-day summary and some pictures:

First day (Thurs 12th April) - My parents arrived in Dublin and we went to a couple of my favorite local towns, Dun Laoghaire (pronounced "Dun Leary") and Blackrock.  We walked around the park and seafront in Blackrock, and also spent a bit of time at the cool Starbucks (old Post Office) and I showed them the pretty church that I sang in a little while ago by the power of the Holy Spirit (see my post "The Little Things").  We had dinner in Dun Laoghaire and then spent the rest of the evening just enjoying eachother's company.  It was nice to just sit and chat with them!  :)

My mom and me on the bus to Blackrock

Second day (Fri 13th April) - I took my parents to Bray and we climbed up Bray Head (see my post "Up to the Cross").  We had absolutely gorgeous weather that day!  The sun was shining, and at one point we were actually sweating!  That's rare in Dublin.  :)  After the climb we had lunch on the seafront and spent the rest of the afternoon in Dublin City Centre.

My parents during our climb up Bray Head

Me at the top of Bray Head

Third day (Sat 14th April) - We got a "surprise" tour from John Byrne (my host mom's dad) in the morning, which was really nice.  We told him we were heading to the Dublin Zoo for the afternoon, and he offered to drive us and give us a tour and some history of Dublin.  It was very generous of him and my parents loved the tour.  :) I really enjoyed seeing all the animals at the zoo.  :)  It had been years since I'd visited a zoo!

My favorite picture --monkey love!

Isn't he gorgeous?

It looks like this elephant is smiling!

Fourth day (Sun 15th April) - We picked up our friends Timm & Cindy G. from Dublin Airport in the morning, headed into town for Mass, and then did the "Hop On Hop Off Dublin City Bus Tour" with our friends.  At around 3:30 we headed off in our rental car to Adare in Co. Limerick.  My parents had rented a house in Adare Manor, and it was really beautiful!  I had my own room and got to stay 3 nights there.  :)  We had dinner at the Blue Door Restaurant that night.

My mom, Cindy, and me at Adare Manor

The food here was AMAZING!

Fifth day (Mon 16th April) - We toured Bunratty Castle and Folk Centre in Co. Clare in the afternoon, and it was a lot of fun.  The castle was gorgeous!  I enjoyed exploring all the different rooms, and we even got to go down to the dungeon!  There were some stairs that led up to the roof, and we could see the beautiful green hills in the distance, and also the River Shannon, which is the longest river in Ireland.  After our tour we found out we could have dinner IN the castle...so we booked ourselves in and ate at the banquet in the castle.  So cool!!

This is Bunratty Castle

The view of the River Shannon

The coolest room in the castle!

Dinner in the castle was awesome!

Sixth day (Tues 17th April) - We toured the beautiful Killarney National Park in the pouring rain.  We really wanted to go, so we decided to brave out the rain and cold weather.  It was worth it!  The park was gorgeous---mountains, lots of cool mossy trees, a waterfall, and some pretty flowers.  We also got to see a gorgeous Franciscan Friary and a beautiful cathedral called St. Mary's after our walk in the National Park.

Me, Cindy, and my dad in Killarney National Park

Inside the Franciscan Friary, Co. Kerry

Franciscan Friary

Inside St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral

Seventh day (Wed 18th April) - We went to the Cliffs of Moher...and they were absolutely breathtaking!  I've never seen anything like them.  I learned that the cliffs are on the Atlantic Ocean and that they were formed 320 MILLION years ago!  Whoa.  So....cool little story---you can walk all along the cliffs (even though there are "EXTREME DANGER" signs...), and I got to one point with my parents that was just overwhelmingly beautiful.  I sat down on the rocks there and was taking some pictures, and all the sudden I was just so filled with God's presence.  It was amazing.  I felt the Lord fill my heart with song, so I just started singing, and the song "How Great Thou Art" came out.  My parents joined in...and it was such a wonderful moment---to just be sitting on the Cliffs of Moher, singing God's praises.

"Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands have made.  I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder...Thy power throughout the universe displayed.  Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee...'How great Thou art, how great Thou art'.  Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee...'How great Thou art, how great Thou art!'" 

The Cliffs of Moher

Me with O'Brien's Tower

Soaking in God's beautiful creation

The coastline of Lahinch, were we had lunch

We stopped in an adorable little town called Lahinch for lunch, and asked a local Irishman where we could find some really good fish and chips.  He pointed out a place called The Cornerstone...and it was the best fish and chips I think I've ever had.  Yum!!

After lunch we drove to Limerick to drop me off at the Bus Eireann station so I could get a bus back to Dublin.  My parents had planned on staying the last few days with just Timm and Cindy.

The ride back was pretty good.  The bus driver was nice and stopped about an hour into the drive to let us use the bathroom, so I really appreciated that.  I enjoyed just sitting and relaxing on the bus and looking at the pretty views out the windows.  At one point I looked out the left window and saw a beautiful rainbow!  I smiled and thought of the Jack Johnson song 'Rainbow'.  It says "I woke up this morning...a rainbow filled the sky.  That was God tellin' me everything's gonna be alright."  :)  We got a little further down the road and I looked out the right window and saw ANOTHER rainbow!  It was even brighter than the first one!  I just love rainbows.  I love all the gorgeous colors in the sky.  And I love the fact that they're only visible for a moment...so if you don't appreciate them quickly enough or snap a picture, you might miss it.  Here's the pictures I took of the rainbows, even though they looked MUCH better than these pictures do...

I was so blessed to have my parents come visit me in Ireland.  I had a wonderful time visiting with them and also with our friends Timm and Cindy from Florida.  It was great to be able to see some of the beautiful countryside with them and to take a break from my GAP responsibilities for a little while.  I'm looking forward to one more weekend with my parents this weekend, and then life is back to normal on Monday.  

I hope you all are doing well.  I am so thankful to be here on my GAP year in this beautiful country.  Thank you to all who have supported me and are continuing to lift me up in prayer.  I can't thank you enough!  This year has changed me and blessed me more than you know.  :)