Not Stressed.......Yeah......Right

So a few weeks ago Lindsay and I headed to the Europa Hotel to get picked up for a day tour trip. The coach was green and called Goliath. We first headed up to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Unfortunately, it had decided to drizzle that day so the view off the coast was not the most impressive, but it was still pretty impressive. Lindsay decided to cross the bridge, and I stayed behind and took a picture of her. Fear of heights and unstable things. Oh well. From there we headed up to Giant's Causeway. There we were able to walk/climb the stones and get a ton of pictures from that. We then ate lunch at the Causeway Hotel. We both had sandwiches and soup. After that stop, we headed to Derry where we took a walking tour. Somewhere during the day we stopped in the middle of the road to get pictures of Dunlace Castle. Even though it rained it was an amazing day.

Tomorrow night should be an interesting one. We are going out to see one of the members of Celtic Thunder (Keith Harkin) play at Auntie Annie's. I am so excited to see him perform live. Don't worry, camera will be taken.

We are gearing up for our choreography fundraiser show this week. The show itself is one Monday the 11th, but this week we have to plot our lights and have a dress rehearsal. Mind you, this is all on top of our FMP rehearsals as well. Thankfully, after the choreography show, we will finish that week to then go on Easter Break for two weeks!!!!! CAN. NOT. WAIT. Then when we get back, we will have only about a week and a half before production week for FMP. May there be no more injuries or illness until after the last show. From there we only have our written work to hand in and then the year will be officially over on June 6th.

I hope to get some more traveling done between now and when I head home. My main goal is to try and get to Dublin at some point. Anyway, we will have to see.

11 weeks until I will be back on American soil. Not too sure how I feel about it.

Clearly I Forget About This Thing

So after this weekend I will definitely think about this thing more. It is my last day working at the Hilton. I have enjoyed it, and it has been a pleasure. However, it's time for me to really buckle down and stay focused on school both here and at home. Trying to transfer when you are out of the country is extremely difficult. They were some melt-down recently, but I think we are on the upside now. After this weekend, I will have my weekends free to do more traveling and stuff. Next weekend, Lindsay and I are planning on going up to Giant's Causeway on a day tour. We will leave Belfast about 9:30 and get back around 6:30. We have been told it is one of the must see places in Northern Ireland, and if you haven't seen pictures please look it up. It's gorgeous. So with that said I will start being able to get more pictures and things.

As for school, we are working feverishly toward our final show. It's stressful right now without our Artistic Director, but we are hoping she will be pleased when she returns. The first show is in exactly 10 weeks and 4 days. I'm just praying we get everything done in time. The few grades that I have gotten back from first assignment have been in U.S. equivalent A's. Woo-hoo!

Also, on a different note, I had a wonderful and relaxing birthday thanks to Shannen, Martin, Rachel, and Lindsay! It was exactly how I wanted it to be. It was strange not being home for it, but I enjoyed it either way.

It hit me today that I am heading home in about 3 1/2 months. I'm not really quite sure how I feel about this just yet. I think I will be ready to be back home, but sad at the same time. I have met so many amazing friends. I don't know what I will do without them.

Ok...It's Official

I am the worst blogger ever. Oh well. I am going to make a note to myself to update this thing at least once a week. Promise. Hold me to it.

So, I did make it home for Christmas safe and sound, but it was the strangest feeling ever being there. I honestly woke up in the middle of the night a couple times freaking out because I didn't realize where I was. Also, I was definitely on Irish time for a while after I got there. I kept waking up at about 4 in the morning. It was crazy.

I really enjoyed my time there with friends and family, and got a lot accomplished. God willing, Erica and I have found where we will be living next year! Woo-hoo! We dyed Rachel's hair blue(part of it anyway ;)). I got to go back to my home church, and I got to see all of my family and friends.

Christmas was good and normal for us. Had Nana, Holly, and Kyle come over to the house, and then we went over to see some friends. It felt nice to see everyone and be home even if it was just for a little while.

The worst part was that I missed all of my new friends in Belfast! I still wish that I could have packed them all up and taken them with me. Also, coming back to Belfast meant Kenzie leaving to go home, which I was not at all happy about.

But, I have been back for about two weeks now, and am JUST starting to feel like myself again. Travelling forward in time more than once in six months I do not reccamend. Things are starting to get carzy with school and what not, and there are times when I am doing good to get a decent amount of sleep. But thankfully, I'm making it. Shannen is a huge help as are some other people in making sure that I keep my sanity about me.

It will be strange to turn 21 while I am here. I'm not really sure how I feel about not being home for my birthday, but I'm sure it will be fine.

All in all I am glad to be back, and I know that time is going to fly. I know my time here will be over before I know it, so my plan is to just relish every moment possible. Enjoy it while I can.

Home for Christmas

Last week was a very interesting week to say the least. I had three assessments Monday and Tuesday, but was then finished with school stuff (for now). On Thursday, a friend came down to hang out before I left. That night Shannen and I had planned what was meant to be a surprise for Kenzie, but she ended up knowing all about it. It was still a lot of fun though. On Friday Kenzie and I sat at the flat ALL day. I speant most of that day worrying about my flight getting possibly cancelled. Thankfully it didn't, and Shannen and Kenzie took me to the airport on Saturday Morning to fly home.

That was where the adventure started. We boarded the first plane in Belfast and we sat, and we sat, and we sat. We were waiting on the de-icer truck to come so that we could leave. Needless to say they forgot about us, and we ended up sitting at the gate for two hours. It was a seven hour flight. Thankfully, we were told our connections in Newark would either be waiting on us, or they would take care of getting us on the next flight. Once we finally took off, I was watching our speed, and all I have to say is that our pilot was determined to make up a lot of time. He was cutting check-points and running about 600 mph. Good grief!

Once I got to Newark, I had to literally run through customs and the terminal to get to my flight. We landed at about 3pm and were meant to start boarding at 3:40. AAAAA!!!! By the grace of God, I got to the gate before they started boarding. This flight was only about 1 1/12 hours, and by this point I was just ready to be home. When I landed in Atlanta, I realized that they had gated us in the farthest Terminal. If you have never been to the Atlanta airport, the terminals are set up in a long line, so I had to walk through 4 other terminals just to get to the arrivals area. Once I got through that and came up the escalator, I saw my parents patiently waiting on me.

On the way home, we stopped and ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (one of my favorite restaurants). Then we headed home, and I crashed. I didn't really have any jet lag, but I had been awake for 19 hours straight. So I have now been home for two days. It still doesn't feel real. I miss everybody in Belfast dearly, but I am glad to be home even if it is only for two weeks.

SNOW!!!

OK, so I know I probably sound like a child right now but it has already started snowing here. I am almost in disbelief due to the fact that it only snows about every five years back home. There is about an inch right now on the ground that I get to walk through to get to work. Oh joy! It looks like Kenzie might have a white Christmas.

We have assessments coming up as well, and due to my back I won't be participating in all of them. However, I am feeling much better than where I was a month ago. I am so ready to see how all of this works.

I am also excited because a guy in Kenzie's course is going to try to take us up to Coleraine in about a week! (schedule permitting) But we are both very excited to see the countryside.

Also, I fly home in two weeks for Christmas!!!!! I definitely wish that I could bring some of my new friends along with me, but you know how prices are. I can't wait to see everybody!

Thanksgiving Week!!!

So today is Thanksgiving, and as I sit in a Starbucks drinking a gingerbread latte I can't help but think of home. I am certainly excited and disappointed at the same time. Only disappointing because I have to work, but exciting because of a big Thanksgiving dinner with some of my favorite people on Saturday.

Classes are getting crazy because of assessments and such coming up. Hopefully I will be able to handle it. I have started going to the chiropractor twice a week and am slowly on the uphill climb of getting this issue fixed. Unfortunately, one of the choreography pieces I am meant to be in will be happening without me.

There are some other things that are in process of happening or have happened that are interesting. Some I won't talk about. :) I have to leave some secrets. But I will say this this, our final performance is going to be interesting...

The Christmas lights in the city have been put up and there is a market that I really want to walk through. Maybe some Christmas shopping in my future...

I know, I know

Ok so I stink at this. That has already been determined. It's just that there isn't a whole lot that goes on now that I am into a routine. Classes are going really well. First paper is due on the 2nd, and we are making production role pitches on the 3rd(AAA!!!!). The latter is absolutely something I am not that good at doing. Oh well. I will just have to try. Found out that I might have scoliosis and am waiting to get an x-ray done to tell me how to fix it. Working my butt off as usual and getting things done early(ie. I finished a paper that isn't due until January =)). Go Me!! Also, I found out that I got the job at the Hilton Hotel here. YAY!!!! It's not a lot, but it's an income. So that's about it right now. Working on some papers and such tomorrow. Gonna try to crank out a review and an essay on production roles(what I can do of it). I will try to be better at this I promise.
Loves!