Merry Christmas to All!

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday. Paul and I both finished work today and will be heading to Louisburgh early tomorrow morning. We'll spend Christmas and St. Stephen's Day in Louisburgh, then on Saturday, we're flying to England for 2 nights. Paul's great aunt is having an 80th birthday party in Coventry on Saturday night, so Paul, his parents, sister, and I are going over. We're flying from an airport in County Mayo, so when we get back on Monday we'll be in Louisburgh until Sunday the 4th. We're very lucky that we don't have to go back to work until Monday the 5th! Best wishes for 2009!

December Fun

It's been a busy couple of weeks with various activities! Last weekend (December 6-8) we went to Louisburgh. We saw the movie "Four Christmases" (which was very good in my opinion, and I think Paul was pleasantly surprised!) and did exciting things like get new tires on my car and dropped off my wedding dress to get dry cleaned!

This past week we went to the cinema again and saw "What Just Happened". To give you an indication of whether or not we liked it, Paul turned to me in the middle of the movie and said, "I'm sorry for bringing you here"! It just wasn't our type of movie. Tuesday night found us rock-wall climbing at a local university with friends Dermot, Sean, and Jean, and Thursday night we met Paul's cousin, Mike, and my friend, Stephanie in town for dinner (and Stephanie and I did a bit of shopping too!). Below are some pictures of the rock-wall climbing.

Getting ready to climb

That's Sean at the top of the blue section!

Jean and Dermot

This weekend Paul's parents, PJ and Bridget, and I made a trip to Northern Ireland to visit Paul's sister, Marie, and her fiance, Brian. Brian turns 30 on Monday, so we were celebrating his birthday a bit early. Unfortunately Paul is swamped with work at the moment, so he couldn't make the trip. I picked up PJ and Bridget at the train station when I was done with work on Friday, and we made the 4-hour drive to a small village near Ballymena. Marie and Brian bought a really nice house there earlier this fall, and this was our first time to see it. We also got to meet Brian's family, as we all went out to dinner, then had cake and ice cream back at the house on Friday night. PJ did a few jobs around the house on Saturday morning, then we headed out again at around 12:30.

Brian and Marie

Me, Brian, Marie, and PJ

So, it was bed early for me last night! The drive was tiring, but it was really nice to see where they live. I'll just be staying longer next time! Paul and I did the typical weekend things today- grocery shopping, laundry... then he headed down to County Kerry around 3 this afternoon- he has some work to do in Kerry and Cork tomorrow, so he's staying with family down there tonight. The week ahead holds last minute Christmas preparations. My apologies to all of you that your Christmas card may be a bit late this year! We were waiting to get the professional wedding photos on CD before we got our cards printed. It will just extend the holiday, right?!?!? Hope you all have a good week!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and weekend! Paul and I celebrated Thanksgiving by having dinner with Dermot and Mike at Captain America's restaurant in Dublin on Thursday night. Unfortunately there was no turkey or pumpkin pie on the menu, so we settled for burgers and banana splits!



Before we met up for dinner I did a bit of Christmas shopping in the city. The lights are on all over town, and there is certainly a festive spirit in the air!

O'Connell Street

Grafton Street- it says "Nollag Shona Duit" which is Merry Christmas in Irish. There are chandeliers with strings of twinkling white lights all up and down the street- beautiful!

Yesterday I put up our Christmas tree and decorations in our apartment. Paul had a couple of friends over to watch episodes of Entourage last night, so I introduced them to the American delicacies of cheeseball and taco dip. Judging from the very little leftover, I think they enjoyed them! We spent most of the day today finishing up the thank you notes from the Irish reception. What a relief to have all of them done!

Us with our little tree!

Irish Reception

Well, I was back to work just shy of two weeks after the American wedding when the festivities began again! The first guests (my mom, aunt Paulette, my mom's cousin, Pat and her husband, Tom) arrived on Thursday the 6th. My friend Molly arrived on Sunday the 9th, and my mom, Paulette, Molly, and I travelled around the south of Ireland for a couple of days- Cashel, Blarney, Waterford, and Kilkenny. A few more arrived (my friends Sara and Kyle, Meghan and Lauri, my dad, uncle Byron, and cousin Heather) over the next few days, and everyone was in Louisburgh, County Mayo (Paul's hometown) by Thursday the 13th.

Below are Meghan, Sara, and Kyle in one of the pubs in Louisburgh on Thursday night.

The Americans took a mini-bus tour of the area around Louisburgh on Friday, then Paul's parents hosted a great meal for everyone!

Paul, Meghan, Pat, Heather, Tom, my mom, Molly, and Lauri after dinner

PJ (Paul's dad), my dad, Brian (Paul's sister's fiance), Bridget (Paul's mom), my aunt Paulette, and my uncle Byron

Saturday was the big day for the Irish reception. We spent most of the day relaxing and getting ready, and the guests started to arrive at the hotel (The West View Hotel in Louisburgh) around 7pm. The meal was served around 8pm, and the first entertainment, a "one man band" played from 10pm-1am. THEN the dj started! He finished around 2:30, and everyone mingled until 4!

My hair- it took her quite a few tries to get the comb to stay in this time since I cut most of my hair off after the Minnesota wedding!

The West View Hotel Dining Room all ready for the reception

The Menu

Molly and Me

Half of the head table- Martin, Marie, Dermot, and Molly

The other half of the head table- Paul, Mike, David, and Sean

Cutting the cake- we broke the knife!

The last dance of the night- "Love is in the Air". Everyone formed a circle around us while we danced.

And, to end the evening, the Irish National Anthem (played at the end of all dances/events/discos)!

The next morning on the balcony of our hotel room. Paul was so excited to stay in the hotel in Louisburgh!

Everyone started to fly back to Minnesota on Sunday, and the last guests flew out on Wednesday the 19th (I also went back to work that day). I can't thank everyone enough for joining us for take two!

This past weekend, Paul and I took another "mini-moon" as our Christmas gift to each other. We spent two nights in a hotel in County Leitrim, a two hour drive north and west of here. We got to the hotel on Friday around 5pm, and I didn't step foot outside until when we left on Sunday! The weather was cold and rainy, so it was perfect for sleeping, reading, watching a bit of tv, getting a massage, and enjoying good food! It was so nice just to relax and do nothing after a busy month and a half!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy a piece of pumpkin pie for me!

Our Wedding Day!

October 18, 2008 was a perfect day! The day started out with breakfast in the hotel (The Embassy Suites Minneapolis Airport in Bloomington), then the girls were off to Salon George in St. Paul. From there we headed to the church to eat some lunch, put on make-up, and get dressed. Photos started with Paul and me around 1:15pm. Our ceremony took place at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St. Paul, and the reception, dinner, and dance was held at the Embassy Suites. When people say that your wedding day goes by in a blur, it really does! I can't wait to see the video to relive it all again. It was a wonderful day and so good to see many people that I hadn't seen in a long time. I couldn't have imagined a better day to start the next chapter in our lives together. So much happened that it's hard to summarize it all in a few lines!

A special thank you to the wedding party, listed below:
Matron of Honor: Margo Shedivy, my sister
Bridesmaids: Marie Sammin, Paul's sister; Molly Burton, Jessica Morgan, and Courtney Senich, my friends
Flower Girls: Mallory Johnson and Claire Slinden, my cousins' little girls
Personal Attendants: Heidi Tuorila and Sara Nelson, my friends
Best Man: Michael Sammin, Paul's cousin
Groomsmen: Dermot McNamara, David Kenny, Martin O'Grady, Sean Burke, friends of Paul's
Ring Bearer: Jarett Nelson, my friend
Ushers: Meghan Kutz, our friend and Justin Shedivy, my brother-in-law
Reader: April Koskinen, my friend
Vocalist: Thayne Johnson, my cousin; accompanied by Jessica Morgan

Below are a few snapshots of the day! Hopefully we'll have the digital proofs soon, so I'll post those too!

Mini-Moon and New Kids!

I don't know what I did with this first paragraph, and I can't get it to change! If you click on it you get a way too close-up of one of the pictures below.

Forgive me, but I'm working backwards a bit! My next post will be about the wedding with a few pictures, but I have so many to choose from that I figured I'd post these few pictures first! After a perfect wedding day, Paul and I headed up to Duluth last Sunday afternoon for two nights. We got there around 6pm and checked into our hotel- the South Pier Inn. If you're ever staying in Duluth, I would highly recommend this hotel! It is just over the Aerial Lift Bridge on Park Point, and the ships literally passed right by our window.

We spent the two days relaxing and eating at all my favorite Duluth restaurants- the Scenic Cafe, Amazing Grace Bakery, Fitger's Brewhouse, Hell's Kitchen, and the 3rd Street Bakery. We climbed Enger Tower to get a panoramic view of the city, walked along one of the beaches in Park Point, strolled around Canal Park, browsed for books in Barnes and Noble, and saw a movie. It was a great get-away after a very busy week! When I was living in Duluth I don't think I fully appreciated what a beautiful city it is.

On Tuesday when we got back to the Cities, I dropped Paul off at Margo and Justin's house, and Margo and I headed to the salon. I decided I had had enough of long (relatively speaking long for me!) hair and did the post-wedding chop! Then, the two of us went to the New Kids on the Block concert at the Xcel Center. It was too funny! The crowd was primarily 25-35 year old women who were shrieking. The group hasn't changed that much, and the songs came back to our memories in an instant! We had been at a concert at the Target center (in the very top row!) about 18 years ago, so it was great to relive old times!

On Wednesday we saw Paul's parents, sister, and her boyfriend off to the airport, and I took care of a lot of the business side of things- getting the certified copy of the marriage certificate, changing my names on documents/accounts, etc. Wednesday night Mom, Dad, Margo, Justin, Paul and I went out to dinner at Buca, then proceeded to try to fit everything into our suitcases! Our flight left around 4:40pm on Thursday, and we got back to our apartment in Dublin safely and with all of our luggage Friday morning around 10:30AM Irish time. For the past 48 hours or so we've been unpacking, doing laundry, and trying to get things back to "normal" for awhile until the next reception in Louisburgh on November 15! Luckily tomorrow is a Bank Holiday, so we have an additional day to get back into the swing of things before going back to work.

Thank you to all of you who played a part in the wonderful two weeks- as a guest, member of the wedding party, family member. I could not have imagined a better wedding!

On the balcony of our hotel room- a self-portrait!

At Enger Tower

A ship passing under the lift bridge- this photo was taken from our hotel room window!

On Park Point

In Canal Park

Going to the New Kids on the Block concert- our mom saves everything, so these are vintage t-shirts! And the new hair cut!

2 Weeks To Go!

I haven't been very good at updating this lately, but there hasn't been too much out of the ordinary happening. Paul and I are working away and getting making some final phone calls and e-mails for the wedding.

I did have a chest infection (an Irish term which corresponds to something like bronchitis) not this past week but the week before and had to be out of work for four days. Paul was very good and got me the entire series of Sex and the City DVD's, so I spent a lot of time on the couch watching those! I feel 100% now, so I'm glad it happened then and not this week or next week. So far Paul has been healthy, so I'm thankful for that too!

Paul had his final race of the season last weekend. Unfortunately the guy leading the championship pushed him off of the track. Paul was able to get back on but finished pretty far down. He got second in the championship but is rather disappointed with all of the mechanical trouble he had during the season.

Yesterday morning I got up early to make my yearly trip to the Garda National Immigration Bureau. Anyone not an Irish or European Union Citizen has to go there to get permission to stay in the country longer than 3 months. It's an interesting place. When I got there at 7:30AM (they open at 8), there was already a line around the corner! You stand in line to get a number, then you wait for your number to be called. When your number is called you do your business at the desk and have the privilege of paying 150 Euro to stay in the country for the year, get a certain stamp in your passport, and get a GNIB card. Then, you sit and wait a little longer until your card and passport are ready. Luckily I was out around 9AM. Paul and I will have to go back after we're married so that I can get a different type of stamp in my passport that will allow me to work anywhere without having to have a Green Card or work permit. Unfortunately my previous one was set to expire while I'm in the States!

I'm going to start packing this weekend, as I leave in 5 DAYS! I am getting so excited! Can't wait to see some of you soon!

Beautiful Day!

It is a beautiful, sunny Saturday here in Dublin- a welcome change! And, the leaves are beginning to change, so in my opinion it is a perfect, autumn day. Yes, the leaves do change here- it's not always all green!

The past two weeks since I last updated have flown by. Last weekend Paul had races at Mondello, near Dublin, on Saturday and Sunday. He had to borrow an engine, as his isn't going to be fixed this season. He qualified for pole position for both races on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately someone hit him on the race on Saturday and he left the track, had to get back on, and finished 9th. On Sunday he won! There is only one race left in the season- a week from today in Northern Ireland. Paul is currently second in the championship- in order to win it the guy who is in the lead would have to get 4th place or lower and Paul would have to win the last race. We'll see what happens!

Work continues to be busy for both of us, and we keep ticking away the items on the "To Do" lists for the wedding. I feel like everything is falling into place very well- just a few odd e-mails to send before I go over to MN. I am very lucky that my sister, Margo, and my friend, Molly, have taken the week off of work before my wedding, so I have no doubt that we'll get everything done and still have a bit of time to relax (and enjoy all of the restaurants/stores/sites that I'm missing- Target and Coldstone, here I come!).

Paul is at a building exhibition here in Dublin with his dad today, and we have no big plans for the rest of the weekend. We were over at some friends' for dinner last night and had a great meal. Sunday will be sports most of the day (I think men are the same worldwide!)- Manchester United (Paul's favorite soccer team) play, and the All-Ireland Gaelic Football Final is on. I'm looking forward to the day when we have a second tv in the house!

Hope you are all having a good weekend!

6 Weeks To Go!

Where is the time going? For those of you who are married, did the weeks leading up to your wedding just go by faster and faster? Is there anything you wish you had or hadn't done for the wedding? I've been making a lot of lists because there isn't a whole lot that can be done until I'm back in Minnesota- but a lot of thoughts keep running through my head of what needs to be done when I'm back!

Work is getting busier for me- one of the part time physios left to go to school in London a couple of weeks ago and another has been on sick leave for the past two weeks. At least it keeps my mind off of wedding things a bit! To give you an idea of how quickly things work over here, I just got my final "official" offer letter for my position, which I interviewed for and was offered in July 2007 and started in January!

Paul's racing has had some bad luck. He got his engine rebuilt and the first time he had it out two weeks ago in a race he did about four laps before the car totally stalled. Apparently the crankshaft broke and messed up the engine big time. Now he'll be borrowing an engine for the last few races of the season- the next one is next weekend near Dublin.

Last weekend we headed to Louisburgh on Friday afternoon, spent the night there with Paul's parents, then headed to Galway on Saturday afternoon for one of Paul's friends 30th birthday party. A group of 8 of us went out to dinner and a few more joined in for drinks later in the night. It was a blast! We hadn't been out until 4AM for a long, long time.

This weekend my main objective is working on a presentation for work that I have to do on Tuesday. I've known about it for about 2 months, but why start working on it any earlier!?!? I will be reading a few journal articles then summarizing them in a powerpoint presentation. It shouldn't be too bad, but the journal articles can be a bit tiring to read!

That's all for now!

Rain, rain, go away...

As you can probably tell from the title of my post, it has been raining here, a lot, even by Irish standards. It is the wettest August on record, and it's only the 17th! Last weekend we headed to Louisburgh- we did a tasting at the hotel where the Irish reception is being held and otherwise just hung out watching tv, reading, and staying inside!

This weekend, Paul's mom, aunt, and sister came to stay from Friday afternoon until this morning. We were mother-of-the-groom shopping. We went to a shop known for it's "mother outfits" about an hour from here. While we were there, it started pouring rain. We drove back through pouring rain and flooded roads. Luckily my car is fairly high and Paul's mom found an outfit too! Paul's aunt was going to head back to her home in County Kerry yesterday evening (by train), but there had been a train derailment caused by a landslide due to the heavy rains on that line. Luckily no one was hurt and everyone was able to travel this morning. I might start building an ark soon!

Other than that, not too much out of the ordinary is going on here. Work is going well for both of us, Paul races next weekend near Dublin, and we're working on the final details of the wedding that can be worked on from afar!

Sister Time!

My sister, Margo, and I had a wonderful few days together. She flew in on Thursday morning, Paul picked her up from the airport and took her back to our apartment, and she was there waiting for me when I got home from work! Unfortunately her suitcase went to London, but it was delivered to our apartment Thursday night. Thursday night the two of us took in Disney's touring production of Beauty and the Beast at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin. It was excellent.

Friday we toured north of Dublin- Knowth and Newgrange (stone age passage tombs), drove through Slane, and stopped in Trim at Trim Castle. On Saturday we had breakfast at a favorite spot of mine in Dublin, Queen of Tarts, then headed north of town again to Malahide Castle and Howth, a fishing village. We did a bit of looking at a shopping centre near our apartment too. On Sunday, County Wicklow, south of Dublin was our destination. We started the day at Powerscourt House and Gardens, took in Glendalough (a monastery built in the 6th century), went to Avoca (a picturesque village), drove through the harbor towns of Greystones and Bray, and stopped at another shopping centre. Yesterday we wrapped up her trip with some time in Dublin- we did a 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour and explored Temple Bar and Grafton Street. Last night, Paul, Margo, and I had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Dublin.

Margo was entertained by the weather in Ireland- one minute sunshine, the next minute pouring rain! We also took a few "scenic routes" when the sign posts didn't lead us in the right direction! It was great to spend quality time, just the two of us, but also very hard to see her go this morning. At least the time from now until the wedding will go quickly!

The two of us on top of Knowth, the passage tomb

Knowth

Margo at Malahide Castle

Margo- Powerscourt House and Gardens


Me and Margo at Powerscourt Gardens

Margo at Glendalough

Me and Margo at the Bistro in Dublin

Invitations, check!

We are now less than 12 weeks to go until the wedding, and the invitations are all addressed, just waiting to be mailed in 2-3 weeks. We got them finished this past weekend. I had Paul print off some accommodation information to be included in the invitations, and when it came time to cut them apart, I gave him my Fiskars papercutter that I have for scrapbooking to use. He thought it was one of the best things ever! Maybe I'll get him into scrapbooking, yeah right!

This past weekend Paul raced in Northern Ireland on Saturday- he got fifth and unfortunately dropped to second in the championship. They have now decided to take apart the engine, as they think that may be slowing him down. I stayed in Dublin and got caught up on things around the apartment. We took in two movies- The Dark Knight and Wall-E. Both were very good- opposite ends of the spectrum!

We have been experiencing some of the warmest weather of the summer the past few days. Even though the temperatures are only around 70-72 degrees Fahrenheit, the humidity makes it feel a lot warmer, and very few cars and virtually no homes have air conditioning. It's nice to finally pull out my shorts though.

My sister arrives Thursday morning! I have Friday-Monday off of work, and we don't really have any specific plans for what we're going to do. We do have tickets to see the touring production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Thursday night, and we plan on spending the rest of the long weekend around Dublin, taking day trips to various spots. No matter what we do, it will just be great to see each other!

Where is the summer going?!?!

Well, two weekends have now gone by since I updated this! Last weekend we had a nice relaxing time in Louisburgh, although it was a bit disappointing that Mayo lost to Galway in the Connacht Final Gaelic football match. It was an exciting game to watch, even if I don't quite understand all the rules yet, and Mayo only lost by one point. They can still get into the All-Ireland Final by winning in a qualifying round, so there's still hope!
This weekend I took the train down to Tralee, County Kerry (about 4 hours from Dublin) after work on Friday. Paul's mom inherited a house down there quite a few years ago, and she's working on updating it a bit. Paul's mom, sister and her boyfriend, and I worked on painting nearly every surface of the inside of the house. Paul stayed in Dublin to get some office work done. We got a lot accomplished, but boy am I tired! I got back to Dublin late this morning and Paul and I started tackling one of the last major wedding tasks this afternoon- addressing the invitations to be mailed in Ireland. We got about a third of them done and hope to finish up the rest over the week and next weekend.
Work continues to go well, and I feel so thankful to have my job. The recession has hit Ireland as well, and the government is looking for any way to cut spending- the health service isn't being spared. If I were looking for a job now, I don't think I would be having any luck at all. So, even though it was a long process to get my job and get the okay to work, I consider myself very lucky now!

Racing and other news

I just thought I'd let you all know how Paul did racing this past weekend. He got 6th on Saturday and 4th on Sunday. He isn't particularly happy with how he drove, especially his starts, but he is still leading the championship. His next race is the 26th of July in Northern Ireland.

We're heading to Louisburgh this weekend. The Connacht Final is being played this weekend in Castlebar, County Mayo- a town about 45 minutes from Louisburgh. The Connacht Final is the provincial (Ireland has 4 provinces- Munster, Leinster, Ulster, and Connacht) Gaelic football final, and Mayo will be playing Galway. Gaelic football is a mixture of soccer and rugby. I still don't understand all of the rules, but it will be a fun time.

Some exciting news- my sister is coming to visit! Margo will be arriving on the morning of Thursday, July 31 and will fly out on Tuesday, August 5. It's a bank holiday weekend here, so I'll have Monday off, and I only work a half day on Fridays. It was kind of an unexpected, spur-of-the-moment decision, but we decided we needed some "sister time"! I'm not sure what we're going to do yet, but I can't wait!

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone is enjoying Independence Day! Yesterday a patient of mine asked if I got today off of work since I'm American- I wish! Paul has promised to take me out to dinner to a restaurant called Captain America's on Monday as a late celebration of the 4th. He's away in Wales racing this weekend. He left last night and will be back late Sunday night or Monday morning. I'm going to spend the weekend catching up on things around here. I just finished cleaning the apartment top-to-bottom and plan on catching up on e-mails, wedding stuff, etc. the rest of the weekend. I'm glad to have this type of weekend after being gone the past few weekends!

By the way, Paul won his race last weekend, so he is now leading the championship by 23 points. He has two races this weekend, so hopefully he'll increase his lead!

Below are a few pictures of my trip to Belfast last weekend to visit Paul's sister, Marie, and her boyfriend, Brian. I took the bus up (about a 2 1/2 hour trip from Dublin) on Friday afternoon, and we just relaxed in their apartment Friday night. On Saturday Marie and I did quite a bit of shopping. The Euro is strong against the Sterling right now, so it's a better deal for me to shop in the North- that's how I justified all my purchases! Saturday evening a couple of Paul's friends and friends of theirs came up, and we all went out Saturday night. On Sunday a few of us went on a bus tour of the city before heading back South. I really enjoyed Belfast. The city is doing a lot of building and redeveloping now that "The Troubles" are over. It's hard to believe how recent that history is. They're only now able to build buildings with glass walls- before everything had to be bomb-proof. The former court house had a 10-foot thick concrete wall around it, and the most-bombed hotel in Europe (The Europa) is in Belfast. I plan on visiting again soon!

At a club in Belfast. L to R: Martin (one of Paul's friends- he'll be a groomsman in the wedding- not the best picture of him!), Brian (Marie's boyfriend), Me, Kieran (a friend of one of Paul's friends), and Marie (Paul's sister)

The shipyards where the Titanic was built

Belfast City Hall and The Wheel of Belfast