Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can't cross a chasm in two small jumps. -David Lloyd George

Merry/Happy belated Christmas everybody!!

I hope everybody had a happy, joy filled day that was full of friends, family, good food and plenty of laughs and smiles to go around!!  Christmas in Belfast is not much different than it was/is in Texas. 

My Christmas actually started on Friday evening with the other Northern Ireland YAV's.  Everybody came over to Bathgate and we enjoyed a delicious meal (completely with an abundance of food), all the while laughing, joking and chatting with each other.  My housemate and fellow YAV, Ellison, soon called us upstairs (at this point we had been joined by Doug and Elaine) to take part in an Advent circle time, complete with a homemade wreath.  It was absolutely beautiful and I felt most at home during and after that time. 

Our celebrations carried over to Christmas Eve, when at 7:30am, we all gathered again in our living room to exchange/reveal our Secret Santa gifts.  We laughed, ooo-ed and ah-ed over the gifts that were given to each person.  It was tons of fun and you could definitely feel the love in the air!!


I spent Christmas day with my supervisor, his family and the extended family.  We laughed, talked, enjoyed a great meal, and watched the merriment of new games and toys unfold before us (not to mention the occasional out of the blue comment or saying :)! ).  We enjoyed a meal of ham and turkey, roastie potatoes, mashed potatoes, parsnip and carrot mash, brussel sprouts, stuffing, and gravy (I think I got everything that was on the table).  For dessert, we had a Lemon Cheesecake, Apricot Pecan Cake (all the way from Coriscana, Texas; Thanks Granny!), and fruit salad.  Needless to say, after everything was consumed, we were stuffed to the brim!

The next morning, Boxing day, I had been invited to head to my supervisor's parents house to enjoy another meal and participate in some family time.  After hellos, introductions, and presents were opened, we started off our meal with a vegetable soup.  This was followed shortly by a dinner of Roast Beef, mashed potatoes, roastie potatoes, carrot and parsnip mash, cauliflower, Yorkshire Puddings, and gravy.  I was truly stuffed after eating all that excellent food!!  After all the food was put away or consumed, a chance to sit back and relax ensued.  It was truly hard to stay awake and be sociable after stuffing myself with the delicious food, but some how I prevailed! 

Although this year Christmas was hard, with it being my first time away from my family at Christmas, it was a great experience!!  I really want to thank the Sweeney's and their families for having me over for Christmas!! I enjoyed every minute of it!

Now, I am getting ready to head to Rome, Italy till the 4th of January with my friend and fellow YAV, Christina.  We hope to have tons of fun and take loads of pictures (I have three empty camera cards just for this occasion!! Hope the battery lasts!!).  I will tell you guys all about it when I get back.

But for now enjoy the pictures of Christmas time in Northern Ireland!! Thank you so much for your continued support and love throughout this year!! It has been a good year so far and I hope it continues!!  Love and miss everybody!!

Patrick is just so excited about Chili!!

 

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser

Wow!! Today is the first day in December!! I honestly never thought that this month would come so fast!!  We have been in Northern Ireland for about three months now but it certainly doesn't feel like it!!

Quite a lot has happened in the past two weeks.  Everything from Thanksgiving day, to packing hampers, to Thanksgiving celebration with YAV's to the beginnings of the many Christmas celebrations.  I guess the only place to begin is at the beginning, Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving for me was really weird and at times hard.  It was my first major holiday, other than my birthday and Fourth of July, that I have been away from home.  Not sitting around the dining room table surrounded by my family eating copious amounts of turkey and then proceeding to take about a two hour nap was really weird.  My day consisted of working in a primary school (one of my weekly activities) and then talking with my family for about two hours.  No turkey was to be had by me...yet. Haha!!  I had a great time talking to almost all of my family, seeing their faces and their expressions as I recounted my time so far in this great country.  I hope to skype with them again soon because there is no better cure for serious homesickness than seeing your families faces, smiling back at you, so proud of you for what you are doing and the huge leaps you are taking in your life.  I love my family so much and know that they will continue to stand by me throughout my life!!

Moving on to Saturday, I awoke and was down at the Dee Street Community center to help pack the Neighbors in Need hampers.  EBM provides boxes with approximately 15 items in them to pensioners and people in and around East Belfast and the greater Belfast area who are might be having trouble with some things this winter.  So along with about 50-60 volunteers, we managed to pack 450 hampers to go out in the upcoming weeks.  It was very uplifting to see how many people were so enthusiastic to help pack hampers for those in need and/or to provide food or money for the hampers, especially after the set back.  Approximately 4 days before, on the last Sunday for people to give food donations, donations were stolen from a church in Hillsborough. Here is the article that might explain it a little more, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15815440.   It was truly amazing the support that people around Belfast showed in replenishing the food that was stolen.  It is amazing how many lives are touched through community outreach programs.  I thoroughly enjoyed packing the hampers and was very happy to help those in need.

Later on that evening, I went with the 7 other Northern Ireland YAV's to our site coordinator, Doug's house and enjoyed a wonderful meal of Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, cheesecake, cake, just to name a few.  It was absolutely delicious and the whole staying awake after the meal because it would be bed time pretty much when we got home was super hard.  Darn that Triptophan for making me sleepy but thank you for being delicious!!  The company was absolutely great too!! It was good to get to know Doug and Elaine's son and his two friends over dinner, dessert and the Auburn/Alabama game.  Our little YAV family, I think was what we all needed for Thanksgiving.  I am thankful that I am in this wonderful country with such great people who all care about each other and enjoy hanging out together on holiday's and on the weekends!!

Sunday, anybody who was able and had appropriate shoes, got to go on a tour of the new Skainos site.  It was great to see the progress that they have made in just 6 months and to know that it will all be done in approximately another 6 months.  It will be a multifunctional building that will not only allow for the church to worship and hold their events there but will also allow for other businesses and organizations around Belfast to have offices and programs within the building.  I can't wait to see the finished product but am sad that I won't be here for the official opening.  I guess I will just have to plan a trip to come back and see everything once its up and going!!

Tuesday, the 29th, the Women's group attended a Christmas demonstration through Healthy Food for All and the Going Green groups.  We saw all the wonderful crafts, gifts, and items that they will have at the fair this upcoming Saturday.  Its amazing how many different crafts you can make using simple reusable items from around your house!!  We also ate some delicious food and sang wonderful Christmas carols!!  Although it doesn't really feel like its December and only 25 days till Christmas, it felt a little more like Christmas through the merriment that all the people were having and the carols!!

All in all, my time in Northern Ireland is going great!!  The people that I interact with through the church and Stepping Stone are absolutely fabulous!!

But for now, I'll leave you with my favorite Psalm.  This psalm was read at the Sunday night worship held in Stepping Stone and led by a fellow American.  It seemed extremely appropriate after the packing of the Hampers, Thanksgiving and Skainos tour and is still appropriate after all the merriment of the past few days.

Psalm 100:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.