nusery time

yesterday was the day we set aside to get started/attempt to finish (yeah, we're really on top of things around here) the nursery. and for the time and energy we had, we got pretty far! we put together the cot and bookcase, picked the layout and arranged the furniture accordingly, folded and hung up all the tiny little clothes, etc. below is a picture of the mess!

(yes, instead of just reaching for the scissors, i bite to open things.)

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also, i got started on a couple little projects (see, i told you we were on top of things), and now its just a few little finishing touches that will bring it all together! those are a few mysterious close ups of said various projects. 

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and as a bonus, my husband took pictures of me taking the "before" pictures. for some reason, i had my shirt up, it was just what was comfortable at the time, ok?

the end.

date day/weekend

this past weekend/monday/tuesday was a good one! want a run down?
i don't know if i ever mentioned, but we have had a missions team from denver, colorado here for the past two weeks, helping with the church and just being all around awesome! there were 10 of them, and every single one was so very encouraging, willing to help, and enthusiastic about being here in waterford and serving the church/community. they left on tuesday, and will be missed! thanks guys, so much!
so after this week of catching up, hopefully life will slow a down a touch. also, i apologize for lack of updates, both on here and on other various forms of social communication!

saturday was the usual market in the city center, and sunday was the dunmore east food festival. it was a busy day by the harbour, filled with people buying and selling yummy/beautiful local goods. although all i saw were latte's and americano's, and the faces that belonged to said drinks, it was a lovely day. here are some pictures for you to enjoy as well!

on monday we drove up to dublin to meet the team there (their flight was leaving early tuesday morning and decided to stay the night in dublin to make life easier!) and spend the day showing them the sights and adventuring around the city. 

and since they were the last team of the summer and because things have been so busy around here lately, we decided that we should stay up in dublin for the night to have a day together on tuesday before going back to life in waterford. we booked the first hotel we walked into, right across from heuston station and right on the luas tracks for ease of getting in and out of the city. the place was so snazzy! and for such good value! we hadn't stayed in a hotel in so long, we felt so spoilt! dont believe me? now for some proof!

check out the view!

 so happy to be there, wave goodbye, so sad to leave!

we had a nice buffet breakfast.

then walked into town, instead of taking the luas, because it was such a nice day, and we just had a big breakfast! after a while, we met with Andy Nugent on his lunch break. he works in dublin, right in the city, so we couldn't be there and not see him! it was so good to catch up. its amazing how fast time goes.

and then we walked our legs off all around that city. we meandered in to about every shop we saw. we sat and people watched. we stopped to listen to various buskers on grafton st. we enjoyed the sunshine in st stephens green. 

we got a dang good cup of coffee from 3fe.

we found a sweet shop full of ridiculously overpriced american goods. 

and we bought some of course.

and then we enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the drive back home. 

date day, also known as, new car day!

so for the past few months (lets be honest here, its been longer than a few months) our car has been giving us some issues. actually, not so much our car that has been giving us the issues, but more the evil, blood sucking vehicle quality test called the "nct". its like a smog check but on drugs. (eg. they will fail you if your car is too dirty!)
needless to say, our poor car has been struggling to get up to par. its been in and out of the shop to pass this test since early this year. to no avail! so we have known for a while to make a vehicular upgrade a priority. and since God has so graciously provided, we decided to take the jump. which leads me to my next point. are you ready?

wait for it...
wait for it...


BADUM!

there she/he is. in all his/her glory!

now before you get too excited (okay okay you can!) let me give you the specifications. its a blue 2001 nissan micra. our previous car was also a micra, so we love these cars, and so does everyone else in this country, because they are easy/cheap to tax, insure, maintain, etc. 

wait, lets slow down for a second, did you read that? i said its a 2001. we broke the 2000's! our first time ever in our lives! tis a momentous day! 

also, do you want to hear my favorite part? 

power steering! central locking! a boot (trunk) that you dont have to love and pet and whisper sweet nothings to to get it to open! 

also, a cd player! electric windows! speaker that make real sound and not just white noise! 2 years nct! taxed until april! 

oh, how spoilt we are.

did i mention we got it for a steal? 

that is all. 

date day

yesterday, clay & i had a rather eventful date day. we have a busy week coming up with the church & such, so we thought it a good idea to get out of the city.
where else to go buuuuut IKEA! yes yes, we love ikea, even though it is an hour & a half away. but what is an hour & a half to the two of us who have a undying love for the mayhem & madness that is ikea?
oh, & the joys of the 50 cent hotdog at the end of our long journey through the maze of reasonably priced home furnishings! (standing up, of course, because for some reason they decide to put tall tables there, so at the END of your epic day traversing through the labyrinth of furniture & fixings you must stand if you want to eat! that is unless, you want to sit at the mini kids table with the green chairs, believe me, i have been tempted!) anyways, we have spent many a date day in the crowded aisles of ikea. in fact, valentines day dinner this year was a couple of hot dogs...with fries & a drink, of course!

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i woke up early that morning, & let my husband have a lie in, whilst i cleaned & laundered! (what else would i do, seriously?) & when the husb woke up, we made some waffles! clay bought a waffle iron on a whim on sunday night (when i say "whim" i mean, he bought it because he had to spend at least 10 euro to get a free hotdog at lidl), so we put it to use straight away! waffle batter is easy peasy to make, & the options are endless for toppings & fillings! bring on pancake tuesday!

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on the drive up i noticed the sides of the road littered with red poppies. they were everywhere! i wanted so badly to grab up a bunch of them into a pretty bouquet! so i joked about how clay should pull over & pick me some, like a gentleman would, blah blah. & guess what? he did! yes, he did. now, photos for proof!

he's a goodun.

& that is all for the pictures. i didnt get any of ikea, do you really think i even stood still for long enough? hey! i almost forgot, with this trip & with the bit of money that i worked my guts out for from the tall ships festival, we got to start on sprucing up our bedroom to make it nice & cozy! before & after pictures to come soon, maybe.

twas a good day! now on to a goodnight! sleep, that is.

date day

for those of you who don't know, every monday clay & i try to take the day off, spend some quality time together, our "date day" as we call it. its a hit & miss some weeks, but for those mondays that are a success, our lives & health are the better for it! we find it to be a necessary ritual because the busy-ness of life & the weight of ministry has a tendency to take a toll on our personal life. its a learning process but we know that our marriage is of upmost important to God. 

so i decided to share with you the adventure we call date day. now, i cant guarantee that it will always be exciting because some mondays we are too wrecked for fundays, & a good snuggle in bed & a few movie rentals might be just the medicine. but for those days we do something with enough details to share, look forward to a weekly post! starting now. 

today started out slow & without a plan. we had a friend from the church stop by who just got back from holiday in thailand, with a very crazy story to tell. then a few errands to run. after that we hopped in the car & drove north. we ended up in a town called clonmel. did some walking around, peeked our heads in some antique stores, got some sweets from a shop called "scrumdiddlyumptious", after...

had lunch at eddie rockets. 

went for a nice drive in the countryside

found this place! seemed to be a private residence, 

with a little girl playing jumprope outside...

pulled over for a nice nature walk, found a creek!

 

did some more driving with the windows down. 

twas a beautiful sunny day!

yep, we like each other.

date day

husband & i went to fota wildlife park yesterday for our monday. we saw

zebras

giraffes

and lemurs.

also, life is crazy. but we are learning.