Money and a Whole Bunch of Way More Important Things

I wish I had something really interesting to write about tonight, but in all honesty, I might bore you. Jared and I have really decided to buckle down on our finances. Not because we have been over indulging - no, we have been eating pasta and freezer pizza and toast - but just because life over here is so stinking expensive! Our savings have depleted miserably, and to give you a little insight to our financial life, we owe over $2,000.00 next month to the government. We aren't even living in the US... seems so unfair, but that is just how it is. I mean, we could not pay it and be on the run for the rest of our lives, but that totally isn't ideal. On top of the tax bomb, we have to buy our plane tickets home still, which are looking really expensive... like at least $800 per person. Anyway, to sum it up, we are going to be flat broke. It has been a while since we have been in that situation. I guess we are just going to have to start eating bugs? ahaha. Not really. We will be just fine. Neither of us are worried about it, just having hardly any savings is not ideal especially when we are living so far from home. We also don't like to pay interest to credit card companies (never have) so that totally isn't an option for us. What we have decided to do, is just cut back and also not worry! It does no good - the Bible tells us that. So, we have been doing really cheap things here in Scotland, and it looks like the only part of Scotland we will have the opportunity to see is Edinburgh. We have 6 days left here and we are determined not to take out any more money so... 15 pounds... What is that, like 2pounds 70pence a day? We can buy two cokes with that! It's all good. Our little shelf on the community fridge is full. I am not writing this down to make you feel bad - not at all! We are having the time of our lives, plus a little financial discipline is good for us. Also, I just want to be as real as possible when writing my blog. I want at truthful entry to read when I look back at this in 20 years (my grandpa is printing it off and making a book!). If I told you that we were spiffy, well, that would not be a lie at all! But if I told you we had the funds to do everything we want to do in Scotland, that would also be true, but we would not be able to pay our taxes if we did, which is like a huge no-brainer. So Highlands, Loch Ness Lake, and St. Andrews, we will just have to look at pictures. As Chelsea would say "Sad Day!" At least we have the opportunity to be here:)

So, to tell you about our week and to stop telling you about our finances: We started it out with a really enjoyable day at the zoo. The sun was shining and the weather was pretty perfect. If you didn’t know, I have been dying to go to a zoo since I heard that Dublin had one. We didn’t end up going to the Dublin one because we had so many other things to go and do. Well, Jared being the sweet husband that he is and knowing how much I love seeing furry animals, he took me to the one here in Edinburgh. Although I do enjoy seeing all the different species and I especially love the large cats and the wolves, I always end up leaving the zoo and having haunting images of the poor animals in cages for the entirety of their lives. They all look so sad at the zoo, and then I feel sad. Also, we went to the zoo before we realized our financial jeopardy and spent 30 pounds just to get in! That is equivalent to about $50.00. It is easy to stop thinking in terms of USD when you haven’t been using it for quite some time- so $30 doesn’t seem that bad, but then I have to remind myself that I get paid in USD not pounds and that the exchange rate really is awful. To top it off when you leave the zoo you get a free pass to come back. Who visits the zoo two times in one vacation? Hmm? They could have given them to us before we went in the first time. Oh well.

We spent a lot of time this week working and also watching “The Office”. Jared moves from one TV series to the next and he started “The Office” from season one this week. That has been fun. We also walked pretty much all over the entire city like 4 times. It is relatively small and compact. The city is divided by a ravine into two sides: Old Town and New Town. It really is a beautiful city with tons of neat architecture and loads of history. We walked “The Royal Mile” from the Castle all the way to the Queen’s house through a historic part of town. We still have to climb to the top of the small inactive volcano right on the edge of the city, but we have all this weekend free. We will probably climb the volcano (called Arthur’s Seat) and also go to the Scotland Museum (free, and also has really good reviews). We aren’t really museum people though, so we will see how it goes.

We did a “ghost tour” on Tuesday night. It was relatively inexpensive and also something that had been recommended to us. A cloaked tour guide takes the group through the city to some of the most “haunted” and dark places and tells the history of murders and of torture that really took place in Edinburgh. It really was a dark place with witch hunts and hangings and lots of war. We also visited the city that is underground in Edinburgh. There are vaults below the bridge there that were once built for shops and such, but too much water leaked in and they became muddy and dirty so they stopped using them. We went in at about 11 PM and the only light in each vault was a single candle. It was spooky for sure. Supposedly, they contain the most paranormal activity in all of Europe according to someone. Throughout the city there are narrow alleyways called closes that we visited. Our tour guide was an older lady who was an excellent story-teller. She took a liking to Jared and made him volunteer in front of everyone. That was the best part of the night for me. I also really enjoyed this group of four old ladies who had most definitely had a drink or two before the tour, but they were so funny! They were spooked at absolutely everything. Jared was standing behind them and he moved a rock to make a noise behind them and needless to say it was hilarious.

Overall this week has been relaxing and very enjoyable. I still love having a kitchen. I have been running about every other day in the park next door and I recently started writing a fiction novel. … … …...... ... I know, right? I think being in the city where Harry Potter began has really inspired me, plus writing a book is on my life list so it must be done. Why not start now? I actually think it might be good… but I bet all writers think that. Wait, did I just call myself a writer? Yep. I think I might become a writer some day.

It's Always Better When We're Together

It has been a bittersweet week. We did the transitioning from Dublin to Scotland and from having the company of friends to having only the company of each other. See, none of these things are bad in any way (except for maybe the dirt and puke and blood that is all over the streets in Dublin) so it is hard to decide how to feel about it all.

Our week started with 4 days off of work and a whole lot of down time and extra time to hang out with Chelsea and Jason. We spent our last few days in Dublin doing nothing too remarkable, but just relaxing, sleeping in, and enjoying the company of one another. We played a lot of Monopoly Deal and tried to play Euchre, but Chelsea didn’t like the learning process too much. We drank a lot of hot cocoa and coffee at Starbucks and we walked along the Liffey one last time together. Then on Sunday night we decided that rather than spending 40 euro for 2 taxis in the morning (luggage) we would just take the night bus to save some money and spend our last night in the airport. We packed our bags and left the B&B at about 11, and we said our goodbyes to Derek, who we got to know pretty well by the time our month was over.

Spending the night in the airport may or may not have been a mistake. I mean, we did save some cash, but we were all exhausted and somewhat grumpy which makes for a terrible evening and an even worse way to end our time with Chelsea and Jason. We snoozed sitting at the tables at McDonalds and ate because we had nothing else to do. Fun, right? Finally when 4:30 rolled around we could get going. Chelsea had an awful surprise when she couldn’t have 2 carry-ons and she had to check one for 40 euro. We checked a bag with Jason that cost us 40 euro as well. Good thing we didn’t take that taxi.

At security I had a terrible incident. I forgot to take out the pocket knife that Jared gave me from my purse. So after the guard searched my bag about three times and finally found the knife I got some scowls, and a short lecture. He said that this time I will not be arrested but that I will have a warning in my name that will be on my record forever in Ireland. He told me that if I ever come to Ireland again and bring an item like that through security again I will be arrested. The security guard took the knife over to the other officers and none of them could figure out how to open it, which had Jared laughing. After about 20 seconds they finally figured it out and turns out it is an illegal knife in Ireland to have. So, I was really embarrassed and mad at myself for not remembering it was in my purse. And, I don’t get it back, sadly. I did ask though. Ha! I thought they might ship it to me, but since it is illegal he looked at me like I was an idiot and that made me mad so I said “Well, I hope you enjoy my knife” (since I know he was going to keep it for himself – it is a really cool knife). And then we were walking away and Jared said “If you’d have asked me to pack your purse I’d be on my way to prison right now. “ I realized that is probably so true… so I am at least grateful that I was the one with the knife… even though the whole security situation put me in an even worse mood.

Also, we collected vouchers throughout our trip and we kept all of our receipts because we were told that at the airport we would get all of our tax money back. Well, the office didn’t open up until 7 AM and our plane was leaving at 6:40. We found the drop-off box after searching for a while, and there were no envelopes and the machines where you entered your information were broken – all four of them. So, we spent so much time finding our receipts and looking forward to getting the VAT tax back, and turns out it was all for nothing.

After what seemed like a never-ending string of bad events we then had to said goodbye to Chelsea and Jason and then finally we boarded the plane and slept until we landed, which was only one hour. We were in a haze when we got off the plane so we sluggishly grabbed our baggage and headed out to customs – or so we thought. We ended up taking the wrong hallway, but the sign was very misleading because it said “No Claims – Coming from the EU” which was true for us. We had no claims and we were coming from the European Union. Turns out we should have taken the other hallway so when we realized we hadn’t gone through customs and we were out we asked a guard what we should do. She said that we couldn’t go back and then really had no clue what to do from there, so we just got a taxi and now we are in Scotland without a stamp on our passport! Sad. Jared is actually much more upset about it than I am.

We hopped in a taxi and took the drive from the airport to our flat. The taxi driver was very kind, but he didn’t have kind things to say when we mentioned visiting Glasgow. Guess the Edinburg-ites have something against Glasgow… he said something about city rivalry. After about a 20 minute ride and a $20 fare we arrived, woke up the landlords (oops!) and made our way into our room. We took showers and then slept for the whole day! After waking up we ate some pizza, which is our staple food of the trip, and then went to the grocery story which made my day. We share our house with 4 other people. An Asian married couple, 1 girl from Germany who is doing an internship here, and another lady who is doing historical research for a couple of weeks. She is from Jersey. We have full access to the kitchen which is amazing for me. I made fajitas last night! I actually got to cook. First time in 5 weeks. I never thought I would miss cooking like I do. Everyone here is really nice and respectful of our things and the flat is in the city center right next to a beautiful, green park. The building we are staying in is really old and has a spiral staircase up to our flat. The flat itself has been remodeled but the old charm is still here with intricate crowing on the ceilings and dark chocolate hard wood floors. The walls are all light colors like baby blue and sage green and all of the trim is white. The kitchen is amazing with cabinets that slide out and tons of storage space. I pretty much want to live here.

Since we have been here we have done a whole lot of nothing really. We went on a walk yesterday and I went on a short run around the park for about 30 minutes (which was so fantastic). I met a girl from Wales who lives in the flat upstairs. She had the most adorable accent and when I held the door open from her she said “Cheers!” which was probably why I thought her dialect was so adorable. We have been scoping out the city some so that when we are ready to actually stop laying around and snuggling 24/7 we will know where to go. It is like we are on our honeymoon again. We haven’t been alone for more than 20 minutes in 5 weeks so the last two days have been so fantastic.

From what I can tell of Scotland I love it here. I love our beautifully decorated flat and our comfortable bed. I especially love the huge kitchen. I love that Edinburgh population is only 500,000 and that it is not such a large city that we feel swallowed. I love the old buildings and the school uniforms that all of the students here wear. We saw Edinburgh Castle today (10 minute walk from our flat), and I love it as well. The men in kilts are definitely something to look at. More than anything though, I love being here with Jared. Just Jared. I realize how easy it is to take all of the time that we have together for granted. We seriously spend almost every moment of every day together, which might seem like it could get really annoying, but for the last 2 days I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If I want to get anything done tonight I have got to stop babbling. But before I go I have to add that Edinburgh is moving in pretty close to Barcelona and I have seen so little! I think I am so fond of it because I feel like I am in a Harry Potter book… with the school uniforms and old buildings and just being in the UK. I know that makes me like mega-nerd, but who cares. I don’t.

We're All Irish on St. Patty's Day

So today was it. The monster reason that we chose Ireland as our first stop - and for so long! St. Patrick's Day in the capitol city of Ireland. Pure celebration. It definitely met my expectations. We started our day with the alarm going off around 8:30 so that we could get up and get all dressed up (except Jason, of course) to celebrate with the Irish. We went downstairs to head outside with a surprise breakfast from our landlord in the dining room. A full Irish breakfast including beans and black and white pudding - which Jared ate by the way. Good for him! Perfect start to our day. After breakfast I had a good talk with Derek (landlord) about his life and his children and his significant other and how hard it is to be running a bed and breakfast when he has 2 daughters and a lady to take care of in a completely different place. It was really an insight into the life of someone who runs a place like this. From what he was saying, he is really exhausted! It was really great to get to know him a little better though.

After our long breakfast, talking detour we headed out to O'Connell street to watch the parade. We climbed a statue so that we could see over the crowds and then waited there for 90 minutes for the parade to start. It was definitely worth it. I talked with a lady from Dublin who has been to the Macy's Parade in NYC and she said that compared to Dublin it is pretty lame. I can believe it after seeing all of the bagpipe bands and crazy floats today. The parade lasted about 2 hours, and after it was over we were starving and our knees and feet were locked up from standing for so long on a statue. We went in to various pubs/restaurants but none had seats so we settled at a small, plain kind of place that wasn't crowded where the food was kind of terrible and the ketchup was runny and orange. The compromises a person will make to sit down and eat rather than stand after standing for hours to see a parade are great. After eating we did a lot of moving around from pub to pub and street to street just taking it all in. Everyone just having a good time, covered in green and orange and smiles, was the best part of the day. We went nonstop from 11 to 8 this evening meeting all sorts of people from different parts of the world. We saw some Irish dancing, some chanting in the streets, and some terrible, but entertaining karaoke. We also saw some crazy cool outfits and some really stupid ones as well (girls wearing nothing but shorts and a tank top in 40 degree weather). It truly was a huge celebration all over the city.

I feel like being in Dublin on St. Patty's day is a super-great experience if you like awesome parades, the color green, and festivities. It also helps to be with some really great friends, and if you can meet a few along the way. Speaking of which, I sat down by an old man in a small pub today because there was only one table with any open seats in the place and he happened to be sitting at it. His name was William, and I learned a lot about him! He has lived in Dublin for his entire life. 1 wife, 45 years, 7 children, 6 boys and 1 girl. The girl was the youngest so she was spoiled big time. He only goes to the pub one time a week, and he loves St. Patty's day! We talked for about 20 minutes just about life and general things and then he bought me a drink! Jared was there the whole time, FYI. William reminded me once again about the kindness of the Irish and the generosity and friendship that they extend. I was delighted to meet him, and it may have been the best part of my day. :) Below is a picture of William and I that Jared snapped.


Now I am winding down from the day and getting ready to rest! My feet are aching from standing on that statue and walking all over - oh, and from the lady beside me who kept stepping on my toes during the parade in hopes to see more. ahahah. I am off of work for the next few days, so I am really looking forward to the break that I rarely have from that. So... Happy St. Patrick's Day and to all a good night!

Spending too much time thinking about a title so there is none.

So the last few days have been packed full, and I am going to try my hardest to fit in the details without spending hours updating this. Believe me, I want to spend hours, I just can’t! Work is busier than ever, plus two of our greatest friends are here visiting. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don’t want to spend all of my time typing, if you know what I mean.

Since the last time I blogged a lot has happened. The week started with a visit to the hair salon so that Chelsea could get a style-change. Jared and I went with her for moral support, and nothing else. I had no intention of cutting my hair as well. You see, what happened was while Chelsea was getting her hair cut, Jared and I were a little bored so we were choosing which hair styles we each liked from the hair books at the salon. Jared kept pointing out these cute, choppy, boy-cut hair styles. I always thought he didn’t like short hair. Anyway, we got to talking and he said “I like hair when it is like that, but only certain girls can really pull that off.” After he blatantly challenged me (it was actually more like when he just spoke the truth) I decided to get mine cut all crazy. I seriously did it on a whim, but it turned out to be a good whim. At least I think so. Jared likes it too.

The day after the hair, we took the DART to Malahide where there is a sea side walk and a gorgeous castle. We spent the entirety of our day there. We probably walked like 8 miles or something. It ended up being really enjoyable though, plus Chelsea finally got to see her castle, which she had been dying to do since she got here. The day after the walk, Jason flew in which was something we had been looking forward to for months! Jared went by himself by city bus to the airport to get Jason so they could have some man time – and to save a little cash by not paying for my bus fares as well. After they got back it was about 7 so we decided to head out to dinner at our favorite Dublin restaurant which we call Firebird. It is really called ThunderRoad Café. I just like calling it Firebird instead. :) We had a really great night together. Jason also delivered a camera to us (long awaited) - hints the much-better-quality pictures.

Day 2 for Jason we spent our day exploring and going to the monumental prison called Kilmainham Gaol where we took a tour and learned about the sad and interesting history of Ireland and the role that the prison played. We saw the gallows and the cells where the prisoners would spend their last minutes of life. We read the last words of the dying men on the letters that had been preserved and uncovered over time. It was fascinating, yet dark, and a really great and educational experience. We spent our afternoon out and about and then Chelsea and I went shopping while the boys went to the pub to watch the rugby game. Needless to say, we had a fantastic time and so did they.

Chelsea and I tried to rest up because today we took a day tour through Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland to get to the Giant’s Causeway. The tour bus was really late and we had to stand in the cold at 5:30 AM. Fun fun. The bus driver was really quirky with a long gray beard and long gray hair covering so much of his face and neck that you could only see his eyes and nose. He also had only three teeth and liked to curse. It made the trip interesting, I guess. He did make a stop at his home on the way back through Dublin. He took the tour bus to his home. Ha! Crazy old man. He also started to drive off with the door wide open and Chelsea stepping out of the van. He was driving crazy all day actually, maybe to make up for lost time. Two people near us were holding bags under their mouths and closing their eyes for an hour or so. Wouldn’t want to be them. Other than the smelly tour bus and the strange driver, the trip today was great. We played Uno when we weren’t sleeping to pass the time. We spent about 8 hours sitting on a bus today. When we weren’t getting from here to there we were enveloped in God’s creation. Cliffs, snow topped mountains, rolling green hills, 10 shades of blue water, and crazy rock formations are just a few examples. We got to walk across a rope bridge between two giant boulders surrounded by water and tall shadowy cliffs. The Giant’s Causeway is truly a masterpiece. On the way back from the causeway, we stopped at an old, romantic castle. It is actually where part of Narnia was filmed, and it was stunning. We drove through Belfast and got the opportunity to get off of the bus for an hour, but Chelsea and I chose not to. We stayed on since the driver had already taken us all over town and showed us the buildings and famous wall paintings. Plus, we were much too tired to do any more walking. We just enjoyed a few more games of Uno and some Subway cheesy bread. I loved the quality time with my best friend.

Tonight I got to talk to my Greer family, which was wonderful and always puts me in a good mood. Now I am SO ready to crash and tomorrow I am dedicating my day to catching up 100% on work. Nothing touristy and fun tomorrow, sadly… there’s always the day after tomorrow though!

A Little Deeper

Tonight I don't really have anything too interesting to be writing about. No new adventures. No castles. No Spain... just another ordinary week in Dublin. Ireland is beginning to feel like home to us because it is where we have been, and also where we came back to after being in Barcelona. Also, after Barcelona Dublin seems to be a bit plain. Although, we do still see new things every day. Chelsea and I went on a nice run yesterday along the River Liffey which was beautiful and refreshing. We took a walk one day out to the port and around the older side of Dublin which is way better than the touristy part - so much more character. Dublin has it's charm for sure.

Since I haven't been distracted by all of the touristy things to do for the last couple of days I have had a lot of time to think and quite a bit of time to wish I could buy an airplane ticket with our savings - or what is left of it - and come home. It isn't really that I am "homesick" necessarily, it is more like I am done with this whole traveling thing. I miss having a safe haven and a kitchen that I can cook in. I miss having a wardrobe and not a suitcase on the floor of a small room with a concrete view out the window. I miss my family, my church family, and I miss having a car! Goodness what I would give to just go driving for hours. My heart goes out to anyone living in a foreign country - Josh and Joy you two rock! All of these things are weighing on me, but more than any of the material things I miss relationships. Sure, I have internet talks and short, fuzzy phone calls, and Facebook... but honestly, I miss hugs. I miss making a difference in the lives of others. I miss long nights with my closest girl friends. Okay, but seriously - I'm just being a complainer now. It really is gorgeous here and I am learning a lot and stretching myself and deepening my character by sticking it out and trying my hardest to see the sunlight coming through the cracks.

We went to a church today - a Christian one. We actually walked about 2 miles to get there, asking multiple people for directions on the way. We barely made it in time. Sadly, we were happy that we didn't come early. The church was really small, which isn't a bad thing at all, but you could tell that they like never have visitors because everyone stared at us when we walked in with confused looks. We found seats and as I was looking around I noticed that all of the women were wearing head coverings and skirts, so Chelsea and I felt a little out of place. The sermon was about baptism and all of the details of it. The speaker spent about 10 minutes telling us that a sprinkle would not do, and that the water could not be clean or chlorinated and that it had to be natural water. Needless to say, it made me miss Connexion even more. I miss real people talking to me about real, challenging, hurts-to-talk-about-it things. Does it really matter what kind of water you get baptized in or how much you use? Come on people. I will give them a little credit. We did get a couple of smiles on our way out which was nice and a few words from the pastor. It was also encouraging just to know that Christian churches still exist in Europe.

On an upside, I started reading a book called "Crazy Love" and it is helping me to take a step back and realize that I have been missing the big picture. God is the same no matter what part of the world I am in and no matter how out of my comfort zone I am. No matter how different life feels over here, God is always the same. He is the constant in my life, and I don't love Him nearly enough. I have a lot going on emotionally here, and I just can't imagine being someone dealing with all that life throws and not knowing the hope that exists because of Jesus. If I was feeling all of these things and looking at my pain and all the dirt that clouds my life and I didn't know about the joy of salvation and the beauty of forgiveness... well, I don't know what my life would be like. I know that because I know the truth that I can get through anything. Thank you Jesus!

Well, no spectacular plans for the week. I am talking Jared into going to the zoo with me even though it costs 15euro each. I just think cute furry animals will make me amazingly happy. They always have for my entire life. Funny how God makes us all so differently. Jared likes to kill them. I like to watch lion king over and over and pet every dog that I pass on the street. I pet a seeing eye dog once and got into trouble. ahah. That is beside the point. I think we will go to the zoo. After talking to you about it, I have realized it is a must. Plus, they have a safari section, and I really love elephants and lions. Yay! Gah, I'm excited.

Well, my fingers are freezing off because it is colder here than in Danville and I am sitting outside of Starbucks since there are no seats inside and I needed internet access for a bit. Isn't it ridiculous that it is colder here this week? ... you just wait till I am in Italy. Bye :)