How the righteous have fallen

Not 24 hours after Erin's post did my resolve break:

The twine is gone! The TV is here.

There are three reasons why I gave in:

1) Its always raining! It is so hard to consistently find something else to do

2) Its Olympics time

3) I got a deal

So go easy on me.


Now, there are rumours of a Paris trip for some people. I won't go into details. But this is what I want to hear. Erin and I are already shopping around for flights to LA next year. But let me incentivise the rest of you to get your butts over here:

• Free Accommodation
• Free food from a fantastic chef
• Free tours around
• Love and attention
• Use of a 40" LED Smart TV (which has skype so you don't need to miss anyone back home)
• Toiletries
• More rain than you've ever seen in your life before

Not only all of the above but for you yanks with your dollar - now is the time to come to Europe. The Euro is getting creamed:

You're getting more value than anytime in the last 12 months right now

Patiently awaiting your arrival,

The Maddens

Just to say "Hello"

Hi everyone... for once, I am actually just writing for no particular reason except that I am in the mood!

First off... to my family... I miss you guys SO much.  I think about you all the time.  For some reason, I've been a bit homesick this week.  I've gotten over the half way mark, and while sometimes it seems like it went by really fast, other times December still seems so far away.  I hope this is the last time I have to go a whole year without seeing everyone!  It feels like forever.  On that note-- Niall and I are pretty sure we're going to come home during the summertime next year... yipee!  We want to get a few Santa Clause beach days in.  :)

A few random notes I would like to write about:

Happy Birthday Ben!  Today Ben is SEVEN.  I can't believe it.  For those of you who don't know, Ben was only 2 1/2 when I went over to Ireland in 2008 to au pair in Bruff.  I think we made a pretty good team... and we got to know each other pretty well since Bob and Lucy were in school most of the day.  Ben was a great little sidekick to have.  :)  I really miss the Noonan family and since February we haven't been able to see each other.  I am planning on making it down to Limerick in September... can't wait!

Ben and me in 2008  :)

Some of you know this already, but three of my BEST college friends from Westmont are getting married this summer.  Needless to say, I am a bit gutted that I can't be there.  :(  However, I am so happy for them, especially since I wholeheartedly approve of all their fiances.  :)  Miss Molly Hufnagel is getting married TODAY!  I am so excited for her and Josh.  I met Molly my first year at Westmont, and even though we're both living out of the country (she is a teacher in Honduras!), she is still so dear and close to my heart.  Love you TONS Molly... I am so happy for you.

Molly and me in our Westmont days

Nick and Claire are a really great couple that Niall and I are lucky to know over here.  Nick is Niall's volleyball coach and friend, and he just recently proposed to Claire!  We are really excited for them.  Here's a photo of the four of us... I actually meant to put some of these up awhile ago, it was from a fancy volleyball dinner that we went to.

Well, what else.  Work has been going well for both Niall and myself.  At the moment, he is really busy at Bombardier... which has its pros and cons, but I'm pretty sure he loves his job and I know he's great at it.  Soul Food continues to be a really nice fit for me.  I know it's not a "career," but for the time being, I can't help but feel it's where God wants me to be.  I've gotten to know my co-workers better and we all get along well.  About a week ago we all went out on a Saturday night for a few drinks and that was really fun!

Olympics start today.  SO many people that we know are going.  Now, the one thing that bothers Niall isn't that we don't have tickets, or that we won't be in London... it's that we don't have a TV!  It's really been getting to him that we're either going to have to watch coverage on our computer screen, or crash on Oran's couch!  :)  I just got up to take a picture of our sitting room.  See if you can notice anything unusual...

Well, I'll tell you.  On the right, can you see the string that is taped to the wall?!  Niall has been battling with himself all week on what to do.  He's put up some string of the sizes of TV's he's considering.  I'll admit, I am Karen Dohm's daughter, so I haven't necessarily been his biggest cheerleader!  On the other hand, I am a huge sports fan, and I too would love to be able to watch big sporting events in our own home.  And hey, I'll admit, sometimes after a busy day, there's nothing like plopping down on the couch and turning on the tube!  We'll see what Niall decides.  The opening ceremonies are tonight so I am very curious...

Though we haven't been having the greatest summer weather over here, it's still nice to have the warmth (not hot like home... but it's been in the 60's, which is better than freezing!).  And I am loving how it stays light out until so late at night.  It's easy to get into the habit of complaining about little things that I'm not used to... I need to remind myself sometimes to just go with it and not be so grumpy!  Life's too short.

Ok, I think that's all for now.  It's Friday and I'm not working, so I better write some letters that I owe to some of you back home!  Love you all.  Keep emailing me or sending letters my way... even if it takes a few weeks... I PROMISE I will get back to you.  :)

xox

Easy come easy go

Do they call it the Freshman 5? Is there another name for it? When you first get married and you pile on the weight. Thats what happened for me. Late night Haagen Dazs and cookie binges, popcorn, huge breakfasts, and about 6 meals a day took me from a steady 180lbs to 191. In 3 months. That was the most I had ever weighed. I even hit the overweight line on the BMI scale (of course those things are a load of baloney).

From February to July

But I began a steady decline after that. Weight has always been a fickle friend of mine. Though the fluctuations have never been this radical. I now weight 175 lbs. My lightest ever since I was about 19. I'm still sick unfortunately and I can see that tumbling further. I want to get healthy again so bad, for Erin more than anything else.

Anyway, recently due to my health I have become more of a spectator at weights sessions. Tonight our coach busted out a device that is straight outta hell! The prowler. Pushing this thing with weight on it feels like your lungs are burning and lead is accumulating in your legs. You get dizzy. And 20 yards feels like a marathon. I got to sit it out tonight. Erin wasn't so lucky.

Prowler Flu hits Belfast

Roman Holiday

Well, it's about 11 am, and Niall and I are sitting here on the couch enjoying a lazy Sunday with our cups of coffee. We haven't been able to go to church for the past couple of weeks since being gone, so it was really nice to be there this morning.  A lot of you have asked, "Hey, did you guys end up starting a home group at CFC?" (they're called "cell groups" here)... long story short, it didn't end up working out for us in the spring... they are on summer break now, but I'm sure we'll get into one for the fall season.  Hard to believe, it's not too far off!  Obviously, I still don't feel as "connected" to our church as I felt at Calvary in Santa Barbara... but I know it takes time.  With that said, we really really love our church!  We feel moved and convicted by the messages we hear from our Pastor... I am grateful that Niall found CFC before I moved here, and that we know it's where we want to be.

Anyway, I am blogging now because I don't want these Italy posts to drag on forever.  Niall and I were huge tourists while we were there and brought the camera with us everwhere.  :)  We have hundreds of photos, but of course I can only post a fraction of those on here!  He left me with "Sorrento," which is where we went next after leaving the Amalfi Coast.  In a nutshell...

Walking through side streets in town...

 Here's Niall smiling with his gelato... this was before he knew that the bill for our two ice creams was going to be € 14!!  : /  Needless to say we didn't buy lunch that day.

Found a random little shop with SO many beautiful paintings just sitting around everywhere.  I think Niall was fed up with me looking around... mom, you would have loved it!

The next day we took a little boat out to the island of Capri.  It was fantastic!  Probably one of my favorite days.  Niall was the only guy on the boat besides our Captain... besides us, there were about 7 other girls, most from Australia and New Zealand, and a couple from Canada.  We went around the island before pulling into the main harbor and having about 4 hours to explore Capri.  Niall and I hiked up to the main city which was quite a trek!

There are HUGE lemons in Italy!!

Our Captain serving us up some limoncello... one sip of that stuff and I'm looped!  Quite tasty though.

The perfect ending to a great day... got to watch the last half of the men's Wimbledon final back at our hotel.  Then some yummy pizza!

En route to Naples and then Rome, we hopped off the train at Pompeii for a day in this ancient city.  Pompeii was covered by the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius in 72 AD... because of this tragedy, much of the city is still well preserved today.  Pretty cool to see in person!

Last but not least, one more stop: Rome.  At first I thought that having four days here would be too long, but it was perfect; we were able to see everything and never feel too rushed.  There were even a couple of days where we went to a nice park and just sat in the sun.  This city was definitely one of the most thought-provoking places I've ever been!  There were pieces of history everywhere...

The Pantheon.  Unreal!

Spanish Steps & Trevi Fountain

One night Niall and I were out walking around and we heard some music... I figured it was coming from indoors somewhere, but we followed the sound and discovered a free outdoor concert featuring a huge orchestra and an opera singer!  It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

The Colosseum was crazy.  We watched "Gladiator" right when we got home!

The Roman Forum

One of the best things about Rome... there were fountains everywhere!  It made the heat bearable... and it was nice filling up our waterbottles and not having to pay for it :)

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

When in Rome...

This was right before we got to see the Sistine Chapel.  In a lot of places, taking photos was not allowed, so we don't have many shots from inside museums.

We got a bit sick of eating pizza all the time...

A day in the park

Our last gelato

A beautiful smile from me to all of you back home :)

Ok, it's almost half twelve now and I am blogged-out!  Niall and I have a softball game today so we're off to that in a bit.  Mom, hope you're glad that I put up more photos from the trip.  :)