Six Ugly Ducklings

Mallory, Bright, and Galway

always a sucker for the animal shot!
fresh oysters and Guinness of course
Actually a really nice combo

Mal and Richy
The very swanky "g hotel"
the cute streets of Galway
chatting with the locals
something was funny...maybe it was our "Irish songs"
Me in my new favorite shirt, courtesy of the Gramlings for my B-day!

So busy with school right now so bare with me on the slow posts! Anyway after a fun day surfing in the Atlantic, we headed into Galway to stay and go out with friends. We booked into a hostel, which i was a tad nervous about! It ended up being nice though and not scary! Here are some pics from the rest of our trip to the WILD west! :) Galway was a perfect place to break the girls into Ireland! We had loads of locals singing us songs...some fantastic...some not so great! But the funniest one by far was the "I'm going to kill my cat song" The lyrics went something like "i'm going to kill my cat...he pissed in my flat..." it went on and on. I laugh every time I think about it!

Mallory's visit!

"No....Mr. USA immigration officer....I didn't touch livestock...."
wouldn't you like to be a cow living here!?
Mallory and I....keep in mind this was right after our surf lesson!
Taking in the views
Cliffs of Moher...take your breath away!
Little Bright with her big board
after the lesson...so worn out! New respect for surfers, you use muscles you didn't know you had!
away we go....surfing in Co. Clare!
wish us luck!
warming up!
loving the wet suits....okay not really!
a bit of a nervous smile from me! but excited all the same!
Mallory and Richy! Cheers!

My good friend Mallory Gramling and her friend Bright Bullard came to visit! I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time! Mallory and Bright fit right in and everyone had a blast! They had been in Ireland just over 24 hours and we were away to the west coast! Here are pictures from our surf lesson and the famous Cliffs of Moher!

Surfing has to be one of the coolest things I've ever done. As you may know I'm not an ocean girl! I love to swim and love to go to the ocean, but I just don't get in past my shins. I think it goes back to my first ever beach trip when we saw a man nearly drown because of the rip tide.....also my fear of sharks! Silly I know! Anyway I think I have overcome my ocean fear! The setting was beautiful, the water wasn't that cold and trying to surf was too much fun! All four of us got standing up at one time or another! Hang Ten!

More pics from the trip to come soon!

Year In Dublin

So yesterday I officially have been living in Dublin for one year! Can't believe it, the time really flies by!

hoodies and horses

Well one of the most interesting and disturbing experiences in my almost year here in Ireland. We had been talking about wanting to go to the horse fair in Dublin for a long time, but I never really thought we'd actually go. When we got a call from Richy's sister saying her husband John wanted to come buy a pony for his nieces and nephews we jumped at the chance to go!

On arrival I was overtaken by the sight. Nothing but "knackers" and their horses as far as the eye could see...

For those who aren't familiar with the term knacker I will explain. It is a term given to those whom dress in tracksuits all of the time! It usually isn't a nice term so don't go around calling people knackers. Usually knacker is associated with trouble makers, etc.

Anyway for some strange reason knackers love their horses, even though most live in apartment complexes it doesn't stop them from buying them. It isn't uncommon to drive by such places and see horses tied up in the green space of the building. So picture an apartment complex with the little green space and now picture a few horses tied up! I didn't believe it til I saw it!

So as we were watching this spectacle take place I started to get a bit nervous when someone yelled "fight" and the cops and everyone took off running or on their horse to see the fight. We decided to just stay put. Eventually people came back. Then a man came and stood next to me to get out of the rain.

He looked like a local of the area but was nice and wasn't in a track suit! ha! I asked him if he was buying a horse and his response was and I quote.."na na ye wouldn't want to buy yizzer horse here, nothing but drug deelers and travelers selling horses here wha?" there were no spelling mistakes there...just my best attempt to get his accent across to ya!

Well that was enough to turn me into a total freak(I read the paper and those are the last people in Dublin you want to mess with). I swear my own footsteps had me jumping after that statement! We met John and Andrea and they were disappointed by the selection, so no horse for them! Here are a few pics from the eventful day!

a very nervous Joanna and a calm Richy as usual!

John in the red rain jacket giving the horses a look. He stuck out in the crowd! ha!
poor guys! :(
hanging on for dear life to see what the "fight" was all about!


does PETA handle international issues?!

4th weekend!

Nathan Jones came to stay the weekend with us. He is doing a study abroad stint in England so a shot flight later he was in Dublin! Here are a few pics!

We met our friends Flavion and Alva out at one of our favorite pubs and had a great night Friday. Then on the 4th I took Nathan to the Jameson Whiskey factory to sample Ireland's finest. Then it was a drive through the mountains, KFC...yes you heard me...I really wanted it for the 4th! Then out in Temple Bar where we all did a little jig! It was a fun weekend!

loved seeing the flag!

enjoying KFC!
taste test!
Flavion, Nathan, Richy Mac
Alva and I looking shocked.....
probably cause this dude kept trying to get in our picture!

shoes, the 4th, and Mallory's visit!

I have finally figured out the best combo for footwear in Dublin! Since I walk everywhere I quickly learned the importance of good shoes. My 10 dollar cute sandals from forever 21 just weren't going to cut it.

Here is my lineup!

pair of Clarks sandals..they make cute styles over here!

pair of nearly flat boots..keeps rain off my legs and good for walking!

pair of converse sneakers...not typically my style but good for walking and goes with a lot!

pics to come soon, we had Nathan Jones over for the 4th and Mallory Gramling and her friend Bright Bullard are coming for a stay tomorrow! Very excited!

Also we went to a horse fair yesterday in Dublin...and that experience was certainly one of a kind....unless you were wearing a track suit you stuck out like a sore thumb...