It's Wednesday at half eight in the morning. I've got my cup of joe and a few interesting updates I'd like to share with you. First off, praise the Lord, I got a job!!! It's nothing extravagant, but I am excited about it. This job was on the horizon last week, but I didn't want to jump the gun and say anything until it was official. As you know I have been dropping in my resume to countless coffee shop/cafe/restaurant type places. I don't even know how many I've turned in or where exactly, there were so many! On one particular day a couple weeks ago I remember feeling pretty down. I hadn't done any job stuff that morning, and in the afternoon I walked over to our post office on Ormeau Road to mail a few letters. I brought some of my resumes with me and thought, "what the heck, I might as well just walk up our street and turn a couple of these in so I can say I did something on the job front today!" I probably turned in 3 or 4 even though most of the places said they weren't hiring. Long story short, last week I got a couple calls back, the first one being from a place just a few blocks up from our apartment building called "Soul Food Cafe." When the guy told me who he was and where he was calling from, I literally couldn't remember at first! But then my memory was triggered, and I recalled halfheartedly handing in my resume to a young girl who was in the process of sweeping and closing up shop. Later that day I walked two minutes down the street and went in for a quick chat with him. Jason started the business with his wife years ago. He was very genuine and humble. His wife came over to meet me (they both work there... Jason is the chef and Mary works out front) and was also very sweet. I went in for a "trial day" on Monday this week and really loved it. It's waitressing in a small breakfast & lunch place, so it's a bit different from my familiar Enterprise Fish Co. job back in SB. We're open 9 am - 4 pm (which is perfect, I get off before Niall!) Monday through Saturday (you'd be surprised how many businesses are still closed on Sunday here). There are usually 3 of us girls working at a time and we all share tables and make sure everyone is helping each other out. Sometimes one person stays on the coffee machine because people are always ordering lattes, americanos, etc. and those take longer to make. Another bonus is the food is good! It's kind of a health nut place--- so Paul Dohm, when you come to visit you might want to hit up Boojum with Niall instead. :) (that's a burrito joint that Niall took me to last week! Similar to Chipotle... I got my mexican food fix). Everything at Soul Food (dad, I can't say the name if it anymore without picturing you saying it in your funny voice!) is made from scratch... mom you may have some competition, their carrot cake looks amazing! :) Haven't tried it yet but I'm planning on it. Anyway long story short Monday went well. I enjoyed taking some orders at tables, running food, learning more of the menu, and being around people... afterwards Jason sat down with me and said they'd like it if I stayed with them which made me really happy. I'm working again this Thursday for training and then a real shift on Saturday. Niall doesn't mind that because he gets to have a man date with Oran. :)
You could easily walk by and not realize how bustling it gets inside! Hmm... maybe my first goal will be getting them to find the missing "u" :)
I took a menu home to study a little. Thought I'd share a sample of the breakfast section with you. The filled bagels looked really good...
Anyway so that's the job story for me. The shifts are 6 hours and I will probably get 3 - 4 of those a week, so hopefully I'll be able to find some extra babysitting jobs... or maybe start painting... they have a section to hang art in Soul Food and Jason said if I brought some paintings in I could put them up!
*side note* I did get another call back from California Coffee in the city centre but it didn't have the same feel as Soul Food. Also, working in the city sounds fun, but it's a hassle to get there, especially since parking is really expensive so I'd probably end up walking. Another side note-- Niall dared me to apply at Hollister!! It was a complete joke-- I am way too prideful to ever work somewhere that is associated with Abercrombie & Fitch!
Yikes, this post is going to be long. I'll try and keep everything brief from here on out. Yesterday I volunteered working at a primary school volleyball tournament that Nick (our coach at Jordanstown) put on. It was fun reffing and being around the kids. Last week Jasmine from Niall's work took me on a beautiful hike up "Cave Hill." I will for sure do that with anyone who comes to visit! We got lucky with a sunny day, and the views of Belfast were amazing. Here's a couple photos from that:
Another girl from Niall's work, Rebecca, has been a blessing. She came to our wedding so some of you may have met her there. She invited me to lunch over the weekend and we had a coffee date a couple weeks ago after she got off work. It is really nice to hang out with other girls my age here, even if it's only once a week. Hopefully I will continue to meet more friends through work!
So, some of you may know that Niall has taken yoga before. I originally made fun of him for it and said it was a "fruitcake" thing to do. However, now it appears that he may have the last laugh! I am always complaining about not stretching and feeling tight and sore as a result. So, Niall took charge and signed us up for an eight week yoga session on Tuesday nights with his old teacher. In the hour and a half class last night, I nearly died! I was by far the worst one there and the teacher had to modify several of the poses for me because I simply couldn't do them. It was a humbling experience to say the least! It was a good workout and everyone in there worked up a sweat. You guys should have seen what this teacher could do with his body! It was crazy.
Anyway, one more thing... I met more of Niall's family over the weekend. Niall's dad grew up with 4 other brothers so it was fun meeting more of the uncles, aunts and cousins. We did that Saturday night and I really enjoyed it... They were all so nice and welcoming, I hope to go back soon. They live out in the country about 50 or so minutes away from Belfast. Niall and I had so many biscuits and cups of tea by the end of it! It's pretty standard to get offered something of that sort as soon as you step into anyone's home here... I've been trying to limit my tea/coffee intake to 2 cups a day, but it can be challenging. And now that I can get a free latte whenever I'm working, I could be in trouble! :)
Still missing all of you but this has by far been my best week yet. God is good and I never would have guessed that I'd be working right down the street! I'm so happy about that... Church is also still going well, it's probably one of my favorite times of the week. Niall's work sent him to a composites course in the city this week so he has been getting off around 3:30 or 4 pm which is also great. I can't believe it's already March 7th... time flies... Heather and Tay you're going to be here so soon!!! :)
Love to everyone, thanks again for all the emails, photos/videos (Evan, Andy, Paul!), and letters. I can never get too much of Santa Barbara love here in Belfast. :)
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