Attitude of Gratitude

     Living in another country as opened my eyes to so many new experiences and opportunities. While here I've noticed many differences and foreign situations. However, these have helped me gain a new perspective on life and what I take for granted. For example, in La Crosse I lived on campus and walked between 3-5 minutes to class. Between a few classes my walk was literally only 45 seconds. In Ireland it's not quite the same, my 30-45 minute walk is much longer than I am used to. Yes, it's different walking in 45 degree weather compared to the subzero temps of Wisconsin, but it has made me rethink complaining about my commute in La Crosse.
     I have also been spoiled with a wonderful church family in both Wausau and La Crosse. Something that I'm thankful for, but have quite honestly taken for granted. Without any family and no roommates actively seeking the Lord the impact of my church family here is incredible. The body of believers and their actions to help me has truly been a blessing. Even the smallest acts of kindness like a hug on Sunday morning feels like an amazing gift.

    Sunday morning I had the privilege of joining Larry and Gretta for church as they gave me a lift to Galway City Baptist. While at church Sinead noticed my cursive hand writing and commented on it's beauty. It's truly not that nice, I've been working on it because I learned the skill in 3rd grade and really haven't used it since. It's also much quicker than printing. I find it sad most of my generation doesn't use it and many can't even remember how to anymore. During our conversation I learned the word cursive is not used here in Ireland, rather they call it joined writing. I suppose it makes sense, the letters are joined together.

     After church I decided I better take advantage of the fact most students were still sleeping meaning there were open washing machines. Our drying rack is quite helpful, but Aurelie was washing her clothes at the same time, resulting in laundry hung all over our apartment.

Clean clothes :  )

      Joy came over to make crafts with me. We both love to bake and use our creativity to create fun projects, however Ireland is not a thriving location for either of these hobbies. The baking section of the grocery store is very limited and the same holds true for craft supplies. With a bit of frugal shopping, we combined our supplies and fulfilled our craft withdrawals. By the way Abby C. made nutella brownies while Joy and I crafted. Yummm! Possibly the worst brownie health wise, but let's just say my taste buds were thrilled!

Brownies & crafts = great combo!

     Joy left around 7pm to run a bible study as Abby C. and I contemplated what to make for dinner. Chicken Spinach Florentine was the winner. We had yet to try this recipe meaning, like most of our dinners, it was an experiment. Thankfully it turned out great.

      Once dinner was finished and the kitchen cleaned Abby C. and I agreed a nap was necessary. Seeing as though the Super Bowl kickoff wasn't until 11:30pm we were going to have a late night ahead of us. Banking an hour of sleep we awoke and headed off to Chris's apartment. Joining 18 other football fans we crammed into a small apartment to watch the big game. Prepared for the occasion Chris set up his laptop with songs including the "GO PACK GO" cheer, Bang On The Drum All Day, and great selections from Da Yoopers. The Irish students were thoroughly confused as Chris and I would bust out in song full of Packers Pride.  I can't blame them because even the other American students didn't quite get it. I guess it's a Wisconsin thing. The room was divided with fans cheering for both teams, making for a competitive atmosphere. Towards the end the Steelers scored making it a 3 point game causing Chris and I to be quite nervous! However, the elation following the victory was amazing. You can tell we were both very excited.

      At the conclusion of the game it was 3:30am and Abby C. and I were more than ready for bed. Walking through the cold rain home added to my exhausted body pumping with adrenaline from the win made for an interesting nights sleep. However, it wasn't very long seeing as though I had class in the morning. With 4.5 hours of sleep I had to be up ready to speak Gaelic for my Irish course. Thankfully I made it through the day just fine and I'm still up at 10:45pm, yikes what am I doing! I better head off to bed before I fall asleep at my computer. Hope everyone enjoyed the Packer victory just as much as I did.

With Love from Galway,