Where I Been...

Would you believe me if I told you the reason I haven't been blogging for the last three weeks was because I was in Ireland? My extremely generous Dad took my four sisters, aunt and me to Ireland for 10 days. He just retired from his business, and to celebrate his retirement he treated US to Ireland! Not the most typical retirement party, seeing as how he did all of the buying. But it was amazing. It was a wonderful opportunity, and such a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We saw the lights of Dublin, the Castles of Dungairre, the sheeps of Dingle, and the rolling hills of Ireland. It was beautiful! And, since I took too many pictures, I of course, will direct you once again to my slide show...and as they say in Ireland, "Please mind the captions on the pictures". (a.k.a. make sure you remember to read the captions!)
And, what better to compliment a slide show than a Top 10 list?

Top 10 Things I learned from my trip to Ireland
1. Even if you get seated on the plane next to an Irish girl with an awesome accent, tell her you have to sleep the entire flight...or else she will talk for the duration of the flight...and you will be very tired.
2. Just because the Euro money is cute and shiny does NOT mean it is play money. It actually means you only get $.76 for every US Dollar. Ugh.
3. Irish accents are the coolest, but NOT if you try to imitate one. The Irish don't think that is funny.
4. My Dad knows the entire song of "Whiskey in the Jar," which allowed us to fit right in at every singalong night at the pubs.
5. Rush hour traffic is actually when the cows/sheep are crossing the road.
6. Driving on the wrong side of the car AND the wrong side of the road can be very very scary.
7. Don't talk politics with my Aunt.
8. Chips are french fries and Crisps are potato chips. And, if you order a "grilled cheese sandwich" they will have no idea what you are talking about.
9. Chocolate in Ireland is delicious, and my Dad never seized an opportunity to stop at the local market to grab a chocolate bar.
10. If you are trying to search for your Irish Ancestors in Ireland, make sure you have the right information. We just might be from England after all! :-)

And, of course I was jonesing for my sweetheart every single day, so I made sure to get a calling card and check-in with him every single day. And, do you know what HE was doing while I was away? Surprising me with my very own pink laundry room! Our laundry room was just in our unfinished basement, so Brandon spent every waking moment painting/drywalling/building a laundry room for me! I LOVE IT!

He even decorated it with a sign!

Notice the shelf, the paint job, and the wooden border around the wall. Such a handy man!

And, he even put in a sink! If you can read the sign, it says "Welcome to Extreme Home Makeover: Ireland Edition"!!! So cute!