grainy pic of Steve's pink climbin pants!!!! OH YEAH!!! 

And the gift goes on....

Helloo friends, I am back from my trip into the beyond, also known as Scottland. Had a great time! I met so many people, but we really had a blast. I didn't see too much stuff, but that wasn't the point of the trip. The point was to meet Dave's friends and enjoy spending time w/ them, which I did. The first night we spent in Glasglow seeing Steve & Amy. Then we went to Graham's flat (Dave's old University flat where he lived w/ Graham and another Dave, both of which are still there). We stayed at Graham's for 4 nights--had dinner w/ his long time girlfriend, played micromachines on the playstation (fun game!), and saw the Edinburgh castle. During that time we also met up w/ Dave's old climbing partner Fiona. She works in the Tiso in Glasglow and is lots of fun. Then on Monday we went to Sarena's flat and Dave made us dinner, then we went to the pub and just talked till closing time. On Tuesday we had a lazy day and then went to the movies w/ Sarena to see Closer (very odd, weird movie, really wouldn't recommend it) and then went to a coffee house/resturant to meet Graham & Mel and Dave T. for dinner. It was good; had a traditional Scottish day meal of haggis & turnip (GOOD STUFF, but don't ask what's in it, I didn't, so I dunno either). Wednesday we came back here, I really like the ferry, it's SUPER nice, nothing like the ferries in NC. It had a movie area, resturants, a pub, and a gift shop. We watched Shrek 2 on the way back, cause Dave hadn't seen it yet. Well that's pretty much it! For those of you that are wondering, the visa thing is still going about the same, we're gonna work more on it when we get back NEXT WEEK!!! See ya then!

i'm all alone, there's no one here beSIDE ME....

yes well, I was just thinking of Donkey singing in Shrek, so I thought I'd give you a lil song and dance...too bad you missed it. Dave's gone off hiking in the Mournes w/ one of his guy friends. They're doing one of those 'man days' where they go climb stuff and jump off stuff and are just generally stupid. It snowed here today, it just rained though, so it's mostly melted already. This guy pulled up w/ 2 kayaks on top, a couple of knee boards or something like that in the boot, and climbing gear. I think they were thinking of doing some snow kayaking, among other things. Who knows what goes on in guys heads? well anyways....
I'm going to rent a girlie movie and watch away. I might also read...and maybe check out ebay, although I've already bid on a $2 head lamp today...just to prove to Dave that ebay works. Watch me never get this one, and then he'll be like "SEE IT'S ALL A SCAM, THEY JUST TAKE YOUR MONEY AND RUN AWAY!!!" Just like that, he's very dramatic sometimes, especially when it comes to gear.
Well tomorrow we are leaving for Scottland for 7 days. Yes, that means if I leave tomorrow, which is a Wednesday, I'll be back the NEXT Wednesday, good job. I finally get to meet all of Dave's university friends, the famed Graham and Serina among them. I'm excited! Well, I'm getting hungry. I forgot to eat breakfast cause I was making Dave's lunch, so I think I'll eat lunch early...it's 11:30 already, it's ok. I'm suddenly REALLY craving a cereal we have in the States call Cookie Crisp (lots of lil chocolate chip cookies!!! FOR BREAKFAST!!!) MMMMM...good stuff.

THIS IS TO YOU SPICER

This goes out to Chris Spicer, of whom makes me laugh EVERY day, w/ either his comments on MY blog, or his post on his. Thanks Spice man, you make my day. Also I think you are the weirdest person I know, and definately the most random, but hey, that's what makes you. You also, of course, are the sexiest, red, bloodied, crack handed man at Medeba. So there ya go. I love you Spicey baby.

scene from the road 

Need Prayer desperately

Hi guys, I just wanted to put a quick prayer request on here. Dave and I checked up on his visa progress today, and the tracking place on the internet said that I was gonna take 120 to 150 days to process the visa. On the paper we filled out in November, it only said 30. A 120 days is AFTER the wedding, which means that the "fiance visa" would be perfectly useless, and Dave would have to leave the country pretty much a week after the wedding. We aren't sure what to do yet. We are pushing around ideas as to call them and see what's going on, and on the more extreme side, get married by the court just for logistics and go ahead and file for a marriage visa (don't freak mom or family, i just tossed the idea out there, just in case). I really don't wanna be seperated from Dave as soon as we're married, so please pray that it will go through quickly and God will give us the wisdom to know what steps to take next.
On a lighter note, there are a few of the pix from the trip we took this week. If you want to see just a couple of Christmas and the engagement party, click on "my photos" link and then the Ireland photo album to see them. I hopefully will be putting more and more photos in that album, so just keep checking up on it.
That's all I have for now, Dave and I are going to attempt to clean up his room, and then go rock climbing. Dave's dad MAY OR MAY NOT be back before then, and HE has the digital camera, so I may not be able to get the prized pic of Steve's pants for ya.
OH GOSH, I ALMOST FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE!!! Dave heard from MARTIN TODAY!!!! HE'S NOT IN THE BOTTOM OF A WELL...OR EVEN LOST!!!! However, he has been away from e-mailing these past few weeks, suprise suprise, and is trying to get things in order. He doesn't have a full on job as of yet, and he got hurt a bit back, torn a tenden in his ankle i think, while biking, and had to CRAWL out to the main road. However, he's better now, and is trying to get back into the hang of getting in touch w/ everyone. Molly I told Dave to e-mail him back and tell him you wanted to get in touch w/ him. Anyways, that's IT!
Love you all, thanks SO much for all the support you all give me.

Grinean of Aleach fort, it's circular 

view from the Grinean of Aleach fort 

Mural of boy throwing gas bomb 

I'm back!

Salooo!!! Well the trip to Donegal, S. Ireland was great; although the weather was blustery, and that's an understatement. The first day (Mon.) we drove to Derry first and just took some pix of the murals there and looked in the shops and into one old cathedral. Then we drove on to see an old fort, the name of which I can't pronounce, but it was really cool. Then we went to Ballybofey where we were staying and just nosed around the hotel (very quaint and antiquey, but still up to date, comfy).
Day 2 (that was Tues, are ya getting the hang of this? guess what day 3 will be!!!) we went to a museum first, since it was a bit wet. I picked it just to be outta the rain, but it turned out to be really neat (I'm starting to LIKE museums!!) and it had a jail underneath it that we got to explore and be finger printed in (although it was sorta spooky down there and I jumped several times). Then the weather cleared up and we took a long drive down past Donegal town and on to Bundoran. Bundoran is a very famous surfers haven, so we decided to check it out (even though it's off season for surfers). The waves from the lookout point were GINORMOUS!!! It was amazing to see, and the wind was so strong it was almost blowing us over (the pix of it are hilarious)! Then we got a really cool hoodie from the local surf shop that has Bundoran on it. Then we raced the sun (it was almost 4:15, and it's completely dark by 5:00) to see a waterfall a half hour away. We got there JUST in time and jumped over the "closed" sign to take pix of the waterfall. On the way back we stopped in this pub called The White Horse which had the best food I've had in a LONG time.
Day 3 (no silly, not Friday, it's Wednesday) we did a bit a of a loop on the way home and saw another really cool waterfall out in the middle of a field (we jumped over the sheep fence and took pix) and some beautiful,some snow covered, mountains. Then we broke into a castle (ok, well, we opened the no entrance gate, the castle doesn't open till Easter, so we drove instead of walking the 4 kms to get to it, OK!!!) and took some great pix of it, the gardens were massive. Then we drove home and did a LIL bit of shopping as we went back through Derry.
So there ya go! That's what i've been doing for the last 3 days. No I didn't go trecking off to find Martin, he can keep his goat and coffee at the bottom of the well, I won't even steal his slinky.

i'm leaving...really..no right now...ok 5 mins

hi guys! Yup, ya thought you were rid of me for 3 days, but no, one more post. We were suppose to leave 30 mins ago, but I ended up e-mailin a friend, then he ended up packing more stuff! HE was the one last night complaining about how much stuff I was bringing for 3 days, and now HE'S packed more than I HAVE! Well, I just updated myself on all my friends blogs so I won't be TOO far behind. It's a BEAUTIFUL, DRY, SUNNY day here, in other words, it's a MIRACLE!!! We're off! I'm suppose to be the navigator, so that means we'll probably get lost. I have NEGATIVE sense of direction folks (no matter how many times my dad tried to teach me how to use a compass or read a map...which way is East again???). HOPEFULLY we'll see ya in 3 days, but at least we can't end up in Tennessee this time (long story, tell ya later), lol Sheena! Toodles!

hello from the world of wet, not to be confused w/ Sea World

Funny how many titles you can come up w/ to do w/ rain...i'm sure you'll hear many more before i leave, don't wet your pants, just wait for them k? (ha ha, crack myself up!) Well I thought I'd blog tonight so that I would get at least one blog in this week. Tomorrow Dave and I are leaving for S. Ireland to see a few things...i dunno what yet, jeez, you're so impatient. It'll be great just to spend some time w/ him, he's been working so much lately I feel like when I DO get to see him he's exhausted (welcome to the married world I guess, it that how it is??? Anyone married wanna comment??? HELLOOOO...).
Martin's name has now become a catchphrase for those who are lost and never found...I think Tsunami Martin would be a good name...do they name Tsunami's like we name hurricanes? Oh well...I do. Just thought I'd stick that in, milk it for all it's worth baby. I'm doing T-shirts next, get your name in now, they'll be a one-in-a-million thing....no i'm NOT making a million, jeez, stop asking stupid questions.
Didn't do much yesterday except take an exceptionally long walk to take a few pictures of my favorite murals here. We've driven past them several times but I'd never stopped. I think I'm gonna make several pages of just the murals I've taken pictures of when I get home and sort through all my pictures from here.
Well, I'm off, I'll be back on Wednesday night I think. Then Thursday Dave's dragging me up the Mourne Mountains again, they're quite the squishy hike, but maybe the weather will be better this time. Friday we're going climbing again w/ Steve (i'll try to take those pix for you of "the pants"), and to dinner w/....some people on Friday night (no they aren't members of the mafia I just can't remember their names). Toodaloo all! HAVE A GREAT WEEK if I don't talk to ya before it's over!!!!

HERE IS IT FOLKS, THE PICTURE YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

oK, well maybe not all of you, but my 2 sisters anyways, and maybe a couple of girls that read this, who knows. There is my dress at the engagement party, although not a very flattering pic. of me considering my eyes are closed, but what can ya do when an 8 year old is taking the picture (yes, that's right, we forgot our camera)? I finally figured out how to send these pix, and it's been wonderful. I'm working on getting some pictures of christmas and things on my picture page, it's not up to date yet, but i'll tell ya ASAP when it is k? And mom, I'm fine, I'm still alive, and no I'm not at the bottom of the well drinking coffee with Martin. Just because I don't e-mail you every day does not mean I'm not alive, or I have a goat, but I do still love you, and sometimes I don't have access to the internet (like Martin in the bottom of the well), or I'm just tired (although I know that's hard to believe considering I get 10 hours or more of sleep almost every day...hey, there's not much to do here when everybody's working!). Yesterday was an extremely great day. Dave, Steve, and I went rock climbing in the morning (I lead my 2nd climb, and it was my first sport climb-yes i was nervous was they pushed me into, good job guys), and I learned new stuff about Steve. By the way Medebites, do you remember those pink pair of plaid pants that use to be in the Medeba dress up room? Well, Medeba donated those to Steve M (or Steve Archibald did, dunno which), and he now wears them EVERY time he climbs (I'll try to take a picture of it next time, it's really quite hilarious). Last night Dave and I went ice skating. It was SO much fun! It's been forever since I ice skated, and I taught him how to skate backwards, that was cool too, cause I don't get to teach Dave many things, it's usually the other way around. Well this is really too long already, so I'll spare you all the rest of the boring things I could tell you...all of which I can't think of right now. Good evening all, or I guess for all of you that are from N. America it's good afternoon, considering it's about 12:30 there. Well, whatever...see ya later....and Mom, I'll e-mail you soon, promise.

Dave and I at the engagement party 

MILK CARTON ANYONE?

Well, as most of the 03/04 LDP and staff know, Martin, the man in the picture below, has not been heard from in months. This is worrying most of us, so I decided that just in case you forgot what he looked like, i would post you a picture. He probably looks much the same, minus the hard hat, and maybe he has more facial hair, or grey hair perhaps. I think he may either be on one of his grand adventures, or he has 5,328 e-mails and only checks 5 a week (which could be the case cosidering he was always in the "red zone" on his e-mail storage at camp). Anyway, if you see or hear from this man, please post on the picture and tell me of any information you may have found. Thank you, and now back to your boring blog update.
"hi guys" It's 1:07 here and I'm still in my pj's. After eating breaky and watching "Big Brother Panto" (the UK's big brother thingy), which was extremely boring but it was either that or the adventures of younge indiana jones (which I watched yesterday and weren't impressive, but that's morning tv for ya), i decided to get on here and figure out how to post pictures! Now I can post my dress and stuff from the engagement party...after I get them off of Mervyn's comp, which he has w/ him....wherever he is right now. I gotta get outta these pj's and have devo's and clean my room....all while i wait for CANDICE to e-mail me and tell me how her night went yesterday....HURRY UP WILL YA?????

WHERE IS THIS MAN??? 

short stuff

this'll be short as I only have about 5 mins left on the library computer. Yesterday climbing w/ Dave was SO awesome. Just the 2 of us went. It felt great just to push my body to the limits again. For my hands to be trembling to reach the next hold, to feel the fear when i fell because i couldn't make it, the feeling of accomplishment and exhaustion when I did...really good stuff. We're going again on Friday w/ Steve. M. and then ice skating in the afternoon (w/o steve). It's really funny w/ me and rock climbing, or any skill really. If i don't do it for awhile I start to hate it, so I know right before, when I just dislike the idea of going, i have to go THEN, otherwise i'll never do it again. That's how rock climbing felt for me the other week when I went, and why I avoided it several times after that, till yesterday. Well that's it for today...gotta go to the post office and mail some stuff, then maybe rent a video for tonight. ARGH, the 2 minute warning...out into the rain i go...ah well, i have an umbrella.

an open windon

today was an odd day...but good, i think. dave had to work, i slept late, as has become the usual for me here, and then got up and Sylvia and I decided to go out and see things. it was a pretty day, and unusual dry day here, sunny too, but still cold. There are many murals here from times when the uprisings were heavy. paramilitary murals...most say "volunteer forces" meaning terrorist groups. These are everywhere in the city. They are quite good though, very artful, full of meaning and heavy words. I read one today that said something about "as long as 100 of us are living....we will not stand under Irish rule..." or something like that. I asked Helen why they don't just paint over them now, she said that they would just be back up over night. Sylvia said that even though there isn't as much evident violence now the groups are still very intact, w/ some times during the year still being very high for outbreaks of small groups. I took some pictures of them, it gave me an insight into the heart of this country, the angst I guess, but it's just everyday life for people here, just like hurricanes during August for the Southern states and below...normal even. Well, mervyn needs the phone, I'll write more later. Tomorrow is rock climbing w/ dave, the next day he's working again and sylvia is back working at school, so i'll have lots of time to write. so long

ah the Irish

well, i tried to post pictures, and then I tried to e-mail pictures, and I've found that is to no avail. Maybe I'll figure it out one day, but till then, I guess I'll just have to keep trying to paint them for you, not literally of course, because i can't pain, duh. Well the engagement party was Tuesday, and it was SO fun. They had a Kaley band there, I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong. The Kaley band is sorta like ummm.....well the type of dancing is sorta like line dancing, but in bigger groups. It's really lively and tons of fun, although my feet are still killing me from the shoes I wore. I hope to get a picture of my dress on here, eventually. Everyone was there and lots of his friends, and it was just a blast, we didn't get in till 1:30. Then, we had decided to go down to Dublin the next day, and we were leaving on the train w/ some friends at 7:50, being at the train station at 7:30. Needless to say we were ALL exhausted, but went anyways, and slept a bit on the train ride down. We then we to breakfast since the only thing on our stomachs from the night before was alcohol, we decided to have a BIG breakfast...hmmm was it good too. Then, since we ARE in Ireland, we decided to go to the Guiness factory there. Now, for those of you who have no clue what Guiness is, it's a VERY dark, thick beer, more like a solid than a liquid I would say, and EXTREMELY popular w/ the Irish. We went to the place and saw how it was made and they give you this lil glass stone w/ a drop of it in it. Then, when you get done w/ the tour, you get a free pint of Guiness (I gave mine to the boys, I don't really like beer, no matter how much they try and get me to like it, ish). Oh man I'm still sore from going to the gym w/ Helen on Tuesday, and my feet from Tuesday night, ugh, I think she and I are gonna go see a movie this afternoon, nice and relaxed. Well, i'm off! I'll try to get you guys pictures SOOn, they'd be here now, but this stupid computer is too slow to process them. Love you all!

WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!

well, I'll have to say, I was a lil bit down on Christmas Eve not seeing all my family. But, when I woke up on Christmas morning and Dave came bounding in my room and told me to look outside, I was QUITE excited to see the whiteness. It SNOWED! Now mind you Canadians, we're not talking about a couple of inches and especially not fee, we're talking a dusting here, just enough to make it white. It WAS enough to make snowmen and have a snowball fight though, which is exactly what we did...great stuff. So, the biggest question on Christmas is always "whaddya get???" I got some hiking boots, a watch, shirt, manicure set, a knot book and a piece of rope to try them with, things like that, it was a good christmas for me. I really enjoyed giving Dave his gift the best though. I got him the stuff he wanted, climbing cams of course, and a pair of fleece pants, but I also got him a remote control car. It was just a lil thing, but he loved it, a played w/ it immediately...it was fun to see him excited like a lil kid, it was really what made my day. We saw lots of family on Christmas, friends too, and sat in front of the roaring fire lots. We ate lots of turkey and ham, and Christmas pudding as is the tradition over here (great stuff by the way...mmmmm). It was a wonderful day. I missed my family very much, but it was wonderful to have the oppurtunity to share in Dave's family traditions, to see what he holds dear, and to get to know his family better. Well, the rest of the family is out tonight and Dave has cooked pasta for us, then we're watchin Bridget jones, the 1st one. I love and miss you all, hope you're christmas's were as good as mine.