The Oh So Dreaded Midterms and Turning 20!

Hello from Belgrove 9, Apartment 1! This is one of three places I have been in the last two weeks. I've either been here, at class, or in the library. After my trip to Cork I had this great plan of writing a little bit of my three papers a night so that it wouldn't be so overwhelming. Well, let's just say easier said than done. Since arriving, I really have not had to do much "homework" other than readings and a weekly one page reflection. So having to buckle down and write three full papers, equating to 5000 words and about 17 pages was extremely difficult. It took me much longer than usual to get focused. I have SO much to look forward to, one of my best friends Emily is coming this weekend to visit, spring break is right around the corner and I'll be off to indulge in all of the amazing cultures of various countries. So that's all that has been on my mind for the past two weeks! I am proud to say that I have completed 2 of my 3 papers and I am well on my way to finishing my third. Sometimes things don't always go according to plan and you have to be willing to roll with the punches. I've spent the past two nights staying up extremely late to finish these papers and although that was my plan for tonight, I had to give my brain a rest. I am still proud of what I was able to accomplish. So I am going to enjoy my weekend with Em! I turn 20 years old on Saturday. Why did that make my eyes well up? I think it's a bittersweet feeling for me. This will be the first time in all of my two decades that I won't see my family. I'm sure you college kids who go to school far away from home are used to that, but for me it will definitely be strange! 

Thinking about my 19th birthday makes me laugh. It was definitely one of my favorites. I remember thinking that 19 wasn't a big deal. I mean, you're already a legal adult, what does 19 signify? But my best friends were more excited than I was and it meant the world to me. I had class all morning and then my Mom picked me up to go out to lunch. We had a plan to go to Flat Top Grill, one of our favorite spots, only to learn that it CLOSED. So we settled for Applebees. To me, it didn't really matter where we ate, but that I got to spend another birthday with my Mama. After lunch, she dropped me back off at my dorm and I walked in the room to find my bed and half of the room completely decorated. It was the sweetest thing and put such a smile on my face. That night, a bunch of us got together to celebrate a conjoined birthday dinner, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO COLLEEN BAILEY!) and it was overall a wonderful night with some of my best friends. People worked hard to make sure my day was great and I just want to say thank you again for all who did that because it means more than you know!

So I have no DOUBT that 20 will be any less monumental. I couldn't be happier that Emily happens to be visiting me this weekend. I can't wait for all of the fun experiences we will have together. We decided a few weeks ago that we wanted to visit GALWAY this weekend too! Hear that, Colleen?! I will finally be making the trek to visit your old stomping grounds. Emily and I are SO excited! I have a lot to look forward to this year! So many adventures in different parts of the world, my brother's wedding this summer, my sister's college graduation (which unfortunately I can't come to because my exams are so late, but I have no doubt that we will celebrate when I come home!), and the list could go on and on. Around this time each year, I get very sentimental, thinking about all of the wonderful things I experienced during my past year as well as the things I will look forward to as I grow a year older. I laughed reading one of my apps called Timehop the other day. If you don't know what that is, it allows you to see what you posted, tweeted, wrote on social media, etc. exactly how ever many years ago. So the other day, exactly the to that day, I tweeted something like "hopefully I won't procrastinate as much at age 19 as I did at age 18 (but I probably will). And yes, I was right! But maybe a new decade of my life will change that? Wouldn't bet on that, but you never know ;]. 

So other than that, not a lot has been happening these past few weeks. My friend Kate was in town from Madrid and so I was able to meet up with her and her friends for a few hours, which was really nice! 

SHOUT OUT TO ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS, BERNADETTE, FOR BEING OFFERED AN RA POSITION FOR NEXT YEAR! I couldn't be happier for you! Though I'm sad we won't be bunk buddies, I know this is something you really wanted and worked so hard to get! I'm so proud of you! 

Congratulations to my cousin, Jennifer and her husband, Kale on the birth of little Aiden! Keeping you guys in my thoughts and prayers. He is so beautiful and I can't wait to meet him!

I'm currently unwinding with some blogging and some Gavin Degraw, so I'm basically in heaven. Have a bit of a headache but I'm betting that it's because I'm sleep deprived. Thursdays are wonderful because I don't start class until noon and I'm finished by 2 or 3. So I should probably get some sleep now if I want to fully indulge on my sleeping in opportunity! Hope everyone is having the best week! Despite a bit of rain, it has been so pleasant here. The shining sun and smell of fresh cut grass bring such a huge smile to my face. It's crazy how quickly the weather can impact your mood, but I am loving it so please keep it up, Dublin! Have to include this picture of a rainbow I took last friday because it was seriously GORGEOUS. Probably the most vivid rainbow I've ever seen in my life. Yes I did stop in the middle of the road to take this picture and made it clear to the locals that I was, in fact, a tourist. But you only live once right?

Alrighty folks, that's all for now! I am off to get some much needed sleep. Thanks for all the love this week, whether it was a facebook message, an email, whatever, it meant a lot. Hope everyone is having a wonderful end to February! Spring is SO close! That is definitely my favorite time of year. A week from today, I'll be in Amsterdam! Throughout spring break I will have one or two days of being home in Dublin before jetting off to my next destination, so I'll try to update you guys as much as possible! 

Lots of Love!

Put a CORK in it (I'm really punny)

GOOD MORNING ALL YOU WISCONSINITES! I still am weirded out by the time difference. Can't believe it's only a little past 8am for you guys. On Wednesdays, I always skype my friend India at 4pm my time, 10am her time. So weird that my school day has ended while her's hasn't begun. Okay anywhoozle, I had an amazing trip in Cork! It was a really fun time and I got to hang out with some great people.

On Friday morning, Ellie woke me up at 8:10 (we were supposed to be at the bus at 8:15!) because I missed my alarm. Needless to say, I sprung out of bed faster than you can say peach cobbler (sorry I am in a weird mood). We made it out the door and to the bus stop in less than 15 minutes. Luckily for us, another girl was running late, and we almost had to leave without her. But she made it right in the knick of time. So after a few hours on the bus, we made it to Cahir Castle (pronounced like care). It was a beautiful castle built in 1142! We were given a short amount of time to explore the castle, which was really cool! I was also obsessed with all of the colored buildings around the city! The weather was pretty rainy, so the river was raised really high!

 Before we knew it, we were back on the bus headed to Blarney Castle. We joked a bit more on getting our Valentine's Day kiss via the Blarney Stone. But it's true! It was definitely fun to come back after nine years. It was exactly how I remembered it. This time around, I wasn't even scared to kiss the stone, despite how high you are from ground level! I just went for it, no nose bonks like my poor mother experienced on her way up from kissing the stone. To this day that still makes me cringe. Blarney Castle and Gardens are BEAUTIFUL, despite the dreary weather. Ellie and I walked a bit around the gardens after kissing the stone, and I even bought myself some Gleeson coasters (This is the Irish spelling of my last name). So I hope my roomies next year are ready for a good time with those hahah. 

 Pucker Up!

 View from the top!

 Being this close to a raven was terrifying and awesome

We eventually made it to our hostel in Cork! We were given a few hours to settle into our rooms, and go eat dinner. Six of us, Brittany, Ellie, Mike, Grace, Samantha, and myself, went to Dunne's (a local grocery store) and bought ingredients for breakfast burritos! They were super yummy and we saved a lot by doing that and just splitting the cost for ingredients. After dinner, we went out with our group to the pub crawl (My favorite). At our first pub, we played a game called Cheers, Governor. You basically go around in a circle counting up from 1 to 21. The first rule is that when get to 7 you say 14 and vice versa. If you get to 21 without any mistakes, you make up another rule. For example, every time you get to number 5 you stand up and dance or something like that. If you mess up, you take a drink and the whole group has to start over. Each time you make it successfully to 21, everyone yells CHEERS, GOVERNOR and takes a drink. It was so much fun! It started out with the six of us, but then expanded to a group of about 11. Overall, the pub crawl was a great time. A night full of dancing and laughter! 

 Downtown Cork! So Beautiful!

Friends!

Day 2 was amazing and better than I would have ever guessed. It started a little shaky for poor Ellie. She had left the hostel a little later than the rest of us and wasn't sure where to get on the bus because she had fallen asleep at the time our bus driver told us where to go. I hadn't thought anything of it until the next morning, when I realized she was by herself. Of course my phone had locked itself and I didn't know the code to unlock it. Ellie only had my number. We were trying to frantically message her on facebook, but she didn't have wifi at the time so she couldn't see our messages. The leaders told us we had to leave. I start to panic a little and I feel so awful for Ellie. We start to turn the corner and Samantha yells STOP THE BUS. Sure enough, Ellie is running down the street trying to wave the bus down. We are trying to wave back to tell her that we see her and we can't stop right now because we are in heavy traffic. But since the windows were tinted, she couldn't see us. Eventually, one of the leaders got off the bus and told her that the bus was trying to turn around to pick her up. So she made it! She was such a champ about it, but unfortunately her day got a bit worse. In the middle of our bus ride, a girl comes down the aisle asking if anyone has a bag. We realize that someone is sick. The roads in Ireland are CRAZY windy and turny and the bus bounces really easily. Of course, it's poor Ellie who is sick. I felt so so bad for her, but she was such a good sport about it and was able to laugh it off and still make her day enjoyable. Good job, Ellie! You had a lot of excuses to be in a grumpy mood, but you totally took it as a memory and a funny story for the kids someday. (I'm not mean, I promise. I asked her if I could share her story and she said yes).

We eventually made it to Kinsale, a precious little town right off a bay. I am not kidding, it was the cutest. It was full of adorable shops and restaurants and boating docks. We had such a fun time exploring the city. It was nice and sunny outside so the weather just made it that much more enjoyable. We had just a short amount of time in Kinsale before heading to FOTA Wildlife Park in County Cork. It was beautiful and so much fun to see animals who are clearly happy in environment such as that. I know that some zoos do not treat their animals properly, and you can clearly see that through the animals. But these were out in the open and those who would pose as a threat (such as the zebras or cheetahs) were enclosed in large areas in gates. I only wish we had more time to spend there, but we had an appointment at the Jameson distillery for which we could not be late. The distillery was pretty interesting, and I learned a lot about whiskey, something of which I had known nothing about. For example, I had no idea that whiskey can be distilled for at least 5 years, even going up to 22! That is crazy to me. At the end, they provide you with a free drink. I tried one of their signatures, a Jameson Ginger and Lime, which is whiskey, ginger ale, and a slice of lime. I liked it a lot, it may be one of my new favorites. Since a few of us were tired and not looking to spend any more money, we stayed in the hostel Saturday night, watching movies and playing games.

 The adorable shops of Kinsale

 

 I had to get a picture with them, of course!

Sunday we were up and off early, headed to Cobh (pronounced like cove). It was another quaint little town full of colors and beauty. We had a few minutes before our tour at "The Titanic Experience", so we walked around and got to walk inside St. Coleman's Cathedral. It was BEAUTIFUL, so gorgeous and I plan on getting married there someday ;]. Soon enough, we got to tour the Titanic Experience. It was awesome! We were given a card at the beginning of our tour to look like a ticket of someone who actually was aboard the Titanic. Cobh was the last stop  before her sinking. We got to see what a Third Class Cabin looked like, which was actually more like a second class cabin because of the standard of the ship. We joked that it was nicer than our hostel. We also got to see what a First Class Cabin looked like, which of course was extravagant and spacious. Towards the end, we were moved into a room with a large screen, and our tour guide told us that "a boat has been reserved for us". So we were watching the Titanic sink in a 3D perspective from a lifeboat. It honestly felt so real, and made me so sad to think about how many lives were lost. At the end of the tour, you can check to see if "you" (according to your ticket) survived the sinking. My person did! Her name was Mary and she was a bit scandalous. It is suggested that, as a 31 year old woman, was possibly pregnant and engaged to a 19 year old man who did not survive the sinking. Little is known about her outside of that. I smell a soap opera coming on. 

The Original White Star Line Dock

After, we headed to a town by the name of Youghal (pronounced Yawl). We only had an hour to walk around an grab a bite to eat before heading to Kilkenny Castle! Kilkenny Castle is a really interesting one because it was left abandoned and then eventually refurbished by the town of Kilkenny. Some of the artifacts within the castle are authentic, while others are replicas. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures. After Kilkenny, we were headed home. Overall I had a wonderful weekend with some great people. 

Kilkenny Castle!

The week thus far has been really good and flying by. This week has been FULL of sunshine and I absolutely love it. Definitely perks you up and puts you in a much better mood. Today was 52 degrees outside! So that was obviously wonderful, since I'm used to chilly Februarys. But I'm hearing that you guys are getting somewhat of a heat wave also. So that is wonderful! I'm officially ordering prints to put up on my walls and I just bought stamps for the postcards, so those of you who asked, be expecting one soon! I'd also just like to mention that I have yet to receive any mail, and I happen to love receiving mail. Cough Cough, hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge (was that obnoxious?) ;]. Okay, that's all for now. I have a lot of school work I need to do before Emily comes to visit in 10 days! Yayyyy so exciting!!! And so crazy how fast February is flying by. Hope everyone is having the best week!

Xoxo

Second Weekend Trip!!!

Sorry it's been a while since I blogged! The week has been pretty busy and, as I've previously mentioned, has FLOWN by. I'm already onto my second weekend trip to Cork before I get the chance to tell you about Glendalough! So let me share a bit about that!

We left early Saturday morning to head to the Sugarloaf Mountains. There was crazy weather, we're talking rain and INSANE wind. When we got to the Mountains, we were given the option of staying in the bus or climbing the mountain. There were two points, a flat land about halfway up the mountain and the actual peak! There were honestly points where I had to talk myself up and convince myself to KEEP CLIMBING. The wind was blowing from all directions and I could hardly breathe. I finally made it up to the flat land and thought I was done at that point. But then I saw that others were continuing up the mountain. I took a deep breath and knew that if I didn't make it to the top, I would regret it. I am really trying to live with a "no regrets' mantra while I'm here and hoping to carry that with me when I return home. So I knew that I had to make it to the top. And I'm so happy that I did! The weather was actually much better at the top of the mountain, not to mention it had some BEAUTIFUL views. We were only able to sit at the top for a short while before we were on our way to the Wicklow Mountains! Here are some pictures from the Sugarloaf Mountains!

Wicklow and Glendalough were beautiful! Glendalough is an early Christian monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by none other than St. Kevin. You did good, Dad ;]. It is located within Wicklow Mountains National Park. We had a short time to visit Glendalough before we were off to discover what more the Wicklow Mountains had to offer. 

Most of our group followed one trail, but Ellie, myself, our friend Sarah, and our new friend Helen decided to take a different route. It was gorgeous. It's so crazy to see something so huge and so beautiful and realize that it's completely natural. Makes you think about how large our world really is. When you're surrounded by something like that, all of the trivial problems seem to vanish. All you can focus on is the beauty right in front of you. This is why I love taking walks down Wisconsin Avenue to the lakefront. I could honestly sit there all day. In this day and age, it's amazing how much we forget about something so simple as that. Don't get me wrong, technology is wonderful. It allows me to write this blog and talk to my loved ones who are so far away. It gives me the chance to document everything I see here through picture taking. It is wonderful, but at the same time I feel that it prevents us from seeing the beauty right in front of us. I am a teenager (but only for two more weeks!) and so I know that we are all obsessed with our phones (in my case, an ipod touch) but I really want to make a conscious effort to put all devices aside and be present in each moment. Okay, cue soapbox removal. In any case, here are some pictures from Wicklow

 I was this close to the little sheep! 

 These little guys were best buds!

 Not too shabby for a bed view, huh Dad?

Unfortunately, we ran out of time to see Powerscourt Gardens. I was really disappointed. But I'm pretty positive that you can reach them through the Dublin Bus System, so I will have to make a trip out there before I leave. It's so crazy, today I reached my one month mark here in Dublin. I honestly cannot believe that! One month down, three to go. How insane is that? I feel as though this is just the beginning, yet I'm already a quarter of the way through of my time here. W E I R D. If the next three months are anything like this past month, I know I am in for the best moments of my life. Slainte to that! 

The past week has been a good one! This past Sunday I went for a 2.5 hour walk around campus and the surrounding neighborhoods with my friend Dani. It was a lot of fun and really nice to get out of the area that I was used to. My favorite part was probably when a little girl was trying to catch up to her mom walking ahead. She yelled "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE QUEEN". I couldn't help but laugh and think about all of the funny things that the children I nanny during the summer say. I miss them SO much and I can't wait for another fun summer with all of them when I get back! Tuesday, Dani and I tried Pilates, but the class was huge and our instructors microphone wasn't working, so it was pretty difficult to understand her. In any case, we tried it and I'm happy. Wednesday, the international students were given the opportunity to see the UCD musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, for free! Didn't have to ask me twice, of course. It was really well done and well performed from start to finish. From the set, the lighting, and the cast, I really enjoyed it. Definitely made me sentimental about all the theatre productions I did in high school. Those were the days! Who knows, maybe one day I will get back on stage. Tonight we were invited to another free event, wine, finger food, and a french film (Paris, I Love You). I had a really nice time! 

And so here I am back in my cute little room and procrastinating packing for CORK! I am headed off for another fun filled three day trip to Cork, Kilkenny, Blarney, Cobh, and much more! I'm going to steal this from my roommate, Ellie, because it's just too good. "Off to Cork for 

the weekend to get my Valentine's Day kiss  aka the 

Blarney Stone" hahah this is too perfect! 

All joking aside, I really hope everyone has a wonderful 

Valentine's Day! I know it's really easy to be bitter about not having a significant other by your side, but I choose to see the good. I know that I am loved, and that I love in return. I have so many wonderful people in my life and that is more than I could ask for. This time last year, I went to see Safe Haven with my friend India and came back to my dorm to find out that my Mom left me an adorable little valentine's day gift bag. It truly made my day. Though it makes me sad that she can't do that this year, I know that I have so much to look forward to this weekend, so there is no time to think about the negative! So regardless of whether or not you have someone to go out to dinner with and kiss goodnight tomorrow, know that YOU ARE LOVED.

Okay, I am off to pack for Cork and get some good sleep! I leave you with a beautiful video that my friend, Ashley, shared with me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIXoYHYEnkg

Happy Valentine's Day!

PS: Sorry about the weird spacing and highlighting at the end, I don't know how to fix it :/